Surveillance Programs: Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden: Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, which are restricted by law and executive order, according to documents leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden and first published Thursday in The Washington Post, according to The Chronicle Herald. The report was the latest in a series by various media on once-secret surveillance programs, based on information provided by Snowden, who fled the U.S. and is now in Russia after having been granted temporary asylum there. His status has strained the already tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia, and President Barack Obama has called off a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for next month and WASHINGTON The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the U.S. intelligence agency broad new powers in 2008. In one case, telephone calls from Washington were intercepted when the citys area code was confused with dialing codes for Egypt and Cairo. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. emails and telephone calls, the Post said, citing a May 3, 2012, internal audit and other top-secret documents provided it earlier this summer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.