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justification for acquiring them. What experience with the CDR program has taught is that
domestic multi-hop metadata, without specific justification for its collection, is likely to have
little impact on national security but would undermine the privacy of large numbers of
Americans.
* * *
(U) The USA FREEDOM Act CDR program was implemented with knowledge of the
Board’s findings in 2014 regarding the bulk collection program, finding that the government
could not demonstrate a strong enough showing of efficacy to justify the privacy and civil
liberties implications of the program. The Board noted that “[i]f the government and Congress
seek to develop a new program to replace the Section 215 program, any such new program
should be crafted far more narrowly, and the government should demonstrate that its
effectiveness will clearly outweigh any intrusions on privacy and civil liberties interests.” 354
This balance has not been realized in the USA FREEDOM Act CDR program. In the end,
whether for concerns over constitutional implications or for policy reasons, we concur with
NSA’s decision to end the program and believe the program should remain shuttered.
354 (U) 2014 Board Report at 169.
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