Data surveillance is lawful says NSA director

The information gathered from phone records helped to stop “dozens” of terrorist plots, the director of the National Security Agency said on Wednesday. Speaking at a Senate hearing, Army General Keith Alexander discussed the program that’s in charge of gathering phone records which could be used to check into possible terrorists. New leaks have disclosed other programs responsible for collecting computer activities.

Critics of the program believe the government has gone farther than the Patriot Act intended when it was created after September 11, 2001. Alexander said “I think what we’re doing to protect American citizens here is the right thing. Our agency takes great pride in protecting this nation and our civil liberties and privacy, and doing it in partnership with this committee, with this Congress, and with the courts.”