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Report discloses massive U.S. phone surveillance program, lawsuit filed

The Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) logged nearly every phone call made from the U.S. to as many as 116 countries as part of a now defunct operation that began in 1992 and lasted for longer than 20 years, USA Today reported on Wednesday, citing more than a dozen current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials.

The records – gathered without court approval – had a variety of uses, such as tracking drug cartel distribution networks, the report stated.

Now, a lawsuit challenging the operation has been filed in Los Angeles by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of Human Rights Watch.

In a Wednesday post, Nate Cardozo, staff attorney at the EFF, wrote that bulk collection of Americans' records is unconstitutional and that the DEA program – as well as bulk surveillance – needs to end.

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