An annual report by the Justice Department has concluded that the FBI misused the Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about U.S. citizens.
The Justice Dept. audit, spearheaded by J.D. Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, reported that Federal agents were guilty of demanding data without proper authorization, and in other cases, improperly obtained phone records in situations that were non-emergency.
Additionally, according to a recently published report by the Associated Press, the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data for the last three years.
The audit, which is required by Congress, found that the FBI record-keeping was shoddy and rampant with errors.
"We believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concluded.
The security letters that audit makes reference to are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. According to the AP report, the subpoenas allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal information without a judge's approval.
For its part, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller called Fine's audit "a fair and objective review of the FBI's use of a proven and useful investigative tool."
