The details on NSA Scandal

[robkelk]

I doubt that any of us could get our own records.

Consider:

• The NSA has stated that PRISM does not spy on US citizens.
  
• Earlier this week, it came out in the Canadian Parliament that CSEC has a similar program, that does not spy on Canadian citizens.
  
• NSA and CSEC share data, as part of the "Five Eyes" program.
  
• Information provided by friendly governments' intelligence agencies is normally not subject to disclosure in FoI requests, because that might cause the friendly governments to cease being friendly. (At least, that's how it works in Canada; I assume the same applies in the USA.)
  

So, even if you somehow already know exactly which file to ask for, you probably won't get it for reasons of national security.

(I've assumed that CSEC, CSIS, or both have had a file on me for at least a decade, and possibly longer. They did the background work for my security clearance, after all, and it went through very quickly compared to everyone else in the office.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012