A senior senator revealed on Thursday that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been clandestinely purchasing Americans’ internet records and utilizing them for surveillance purposes without obtaining a warrant.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, described the practice as existing within a “legal gray area,” where data brokers discreetly acquire and resell internet “metadata” without users’ consent.

Wyden asserted that the NSA has sought to keep this activity concealed.

In a letter addressed to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Senator Wyden emphasized the need for a “wake-up call” within the government.

He called for the establishment of new regulations that would limit purchases to data explicitly consented to by Americans, the Washington Times has reported.

Additionally, he urged Ms. Haines to conduct an inventory of the government’s existing data holdings and discard any information that does not meet the standard of consent.

The senator disclosed a letter from Army General Paul M. Nakasone, the director of the NSA, which detailed and justified the agency’s actions.

General Nakasone clarified that the NSA acquires what it terms “commercially available information,” emphasizing that these acquisitions are restricted.

They exclude location data from phones “known to be used in the United States,” and the agency refrains from buying or using location data from U.S. automobiles.

The NSA focuses on acquiring “non-content” data, specifically where one side of the communication involves a U.S. Internet Protocol address and the other is situated abroad.

General Nakasone underscored the critical nature of this information for the “U.S. Defense Industrial Base.”

Written by B.C. Begley