Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (PCLOB, 2014)

Government Record · Tier 1 — Primary Document · Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board · January 23, 2014

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board's review of the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' telephone records. It found the program lacked a viable legal foundation and could not identify a case where it made a concrete difference.

we have not identified a single instance involving a threat to the United States … in which the program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation.

p. 12