Will the NSA Now Be Slammed With Records Requests?

We may all be the NSA now, sure. But now that the National Security Agency has admitted to snooping on Americans through phone records and the massive digital dragnet known as PRISM, the intelligence agency must answer to both concerned citizens and those looking to get cleared of a crime. There comes a point where the FBI can’t access phone records and other surveillance anymore. That’s where the NSA steps in.

When people are looking to avoid jail time or a hefty fine and can’t find substantial evidence proving their innocence, they might call upon the government to support their case. With a log of every email, call and conversation stored somewhere deep in the NSA archives, all records of would-be conspiracies, plots and plans to commit crimes would be catalogued and supposedly accessible if someone were to ask. (The NSA says it only monitored the metadata on calls made by Verizon customers. But, yeah. Right).

That’s exactly what Terrance Brown, 40, of Florida did. After being accused of attempting to hold up trucks making cash deliveries in 2010, Brown pled not guilty but needed a little assistance from the government to get his name cleared. The FBI was unsuccessful obtaining Brown’s MetroPCS phone records going three years back, so his lawyer Marshall Dore Louis plans to use the NSA’s spying results, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

"The president of the United States has recognized this program has been ongoing since 2006 … to gather the phone numbers [and related information] of everybody including my client in 2010," Louis said in court Wednesday, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

The judge ordered the government to comply with Louis’s request. Still no word on the government’s next move, but the news Edward Snowden unleashed opens up a new, annoying and time-consuming door that introduces problems and probably inconveniences for the government. Brown’s case represents one out of hundreds or thousands that likely will ask for their records if facing charges, and the government will have to respond to the requests in one way or another.

Even if there’s a resounding NO for Brown, precious time will now have to be spent to address all the criminals (and the innocent) who are looking for justice. Americans were upset about the news, but it also opened up an unexpected can of worms for the government. With the potential influx of requests for records that will soon pile up on the NSA’s desk, the government's post-PRISM damage control is only just beginning.