De-identification didn't happen after Snowden. That was just public appeasement. Way back in the Patriot act there was a push to uncomplicate the process because, although we had achieved interagency support and communication, some of the procedures were too clunky and didn't support rapid response. The push to lessen restrictions on the PII tables was rejected as it was a major stipulation of the Constitutionality, and would have brought it closer to a breach of Posse Comitatus (which I think it breaches anyway, but I still think it's necessary).
Oh, no doubt the CIA has their own files on people and can access other systems, so looking your name up isn't a problem, I agree. What they can't do is connect your name to your metadata stream. In other words, they can look up any 'dossier' you might have (like INTERPOL), but they can't listen to your conversations or see where your phone has been... not without a court order. If they're caught doing so it's federal prison for them. Let's hope the people who abused FISA to spy on Trump don't evade protocol due to the high-profile nature of that situation. Anything less than max sentences will set a dangerous new precedent.
De-identification didn't happen after Snowden. That was just public appeasement. Way back in the Patriot act there was a push to uncomplicate the process because, although we had achieved interagency support and communication, some of the procedures were too clunky and didn't support rapid response. The push to lessen restrictions on the PII tables was rejected as it was a major stipulation of the Constitutionality, and would have brought it closer to a breach of Posse Comitatus (which I think it breaches anyway, but I still think it's necessary).
Oh, no doubt the CIA has their own files on people and can access other systems, so looking your name up isn't a problem, I agree. What they can't do is connect your name to your metadata stream. In other words, they can look up any 'dossier' you might have (like INTERPOL), but they can't listen to your conversations or see where your phone has been... not without a court order. If they're caught doing so it's federal prison for them. Let's hope the people who abused FISA to spy on Trump don't evade protocol due to the high-profile nature of that situation. Anything less than max sentences will set a dangerous new precedent.