Communications no longer private as NSA exceeds eavesdropping

On Wednesday the New York Times reported that the wiretapping practiced by the National Security Agency in recent months surpassed the limits set by the U.S. Congress last year. The paper said that the NSA had engaged in "'over-collection' of domestic communications of Americans."

Besides, the paper also said that the Justice Department acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday that there had been problems with NSA surveillance operations and said they were resolved.

Earlier in July 2008 Congress passed the bill which authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop without court approval on foreign targets believed to be outside the United States. The act received negative feedback from the critics who complained it allowed warrantless surveillance of phone calls and e-mails of Americans who communicate with the foreign targets. While the bill was meant to limit such interception critics still claim the measures were insufficient to restrain the government.

According to the Times report congressional investigators “hope to determine if any violations of Americans' privacy occurred”.

The 2008 bill was introduced after a dispute over a warrantless domestic spying program, conducted under President George W. Bush's administration and revealed in 2005. The bill specifies that telecommunications companies who took part in the program, part of the administration's "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks are granted liability protection.