THOUSANDS OF TIMES A YEAR

(h/t Atrios)

The next time anyone from the US intelligence services starts braying about how careful they are to respect the Constitution, don't just remind them of the whistleblowers (here and here), and also tell them about this internal NSA audit:

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds
By Barton Gellman, Published: August 15
Washington Post

The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.