The guidelines, which were approved this week by Obama administration, enable the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to retain the records on US citizens and residents for up to five years, even if the individuals have no known connection to terrorism. Previously, the center was required to destroy information within six months.
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper explained that the guidelines were revised following an investigation by the US intelligence community into the Christmas Day 2009 airline bombing attempt by the “underwear bomber”, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
After the failed attack, government agencies discovered they had intercepted Al Qaeda communications and received a report from a US consulate that could have identified the attacker, if the information had been retained and collated.
“Following the failed terrorist attack in December 2009, representatives of the counterterrorism community concluded it is vital for NCTC to be provided with a variety of datasets from various agencies that contain terrorism information”, said Clapper. “The ability to search against these datasets for up to five years on a continuing basis as these updated guidelines permit will enable NCTC to accomplish its mission more practically and effectively than the 2008 Guidelines allowed.”
However, civil liberties advocates are not happy with the changes. Michael German with the American Civil Liberties Union warned that “American citizens and residents should not be considered potential terrorists until the NCTC decides otherwise. Having innocent people's information in intelligence databases for five years without any suspicion of wrongdoing creates an unacceptable risk to Americans' privacy through error and abuse.”