U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said reports that the National Security Agency deleted millions of phone calls and text messages is a disgrace.
Trump said in a Twitter message: “Wow! The NSA has deleted 685 million phone calls and text messages.
“Privacy violations?
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“They blame technical irregularities, such a disgrace, the Witch Hunt continues.”
Trump appeared to be referring to an article published in The New York Times on June 29.
The report said the NSA purged millions of records logging calls and texts gathered from American telecommunications companies since 2015 because the database contained files the agency did not have the authority to receive.
“Metadata showing the sending, recipient and time of texts and calls was gathered under the U.S.A. Freedom Act to replace a once-secret programme that involved the bulk-collection of Americans’ domestic calling records,’’ the report added.
The report said the information is supposed to stay with the telecoms companies, and the NSA is only allowed to receive phone logs of a specif ic surveillance target and those contacted by that target.
(Sputnik/NAN)