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FBI acknowledges US privacy rules had been breached

The FBI on Friday acknowledged breaching US privacy rules to access individuals' telephone, e-mail and financial records during terror investigations.

FBI director Robert Mueller endorsed an inspector general's report, which he said identified "serious deficiencies" in procedures used to supervise requests for private information.

"We -- and I speak for the FBI as an institution -- accept the report's findings and its recommendations and have already taken steps to address many of these recommendations," Mueller told a news conference.

He referred to the FBI's use of "national security letters" filed to justify requests for certain types of information on private citizens such as long-distance phone records or subscriptions to publications.

Passed after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the USA Patriot Act made it easier for the FBI to obtain national security letters by dropping a requirement to show specific links between the records sought and terrorism.

But the report said FBI agents continued to use the letters without citing an authorized investigation or providing the required documentation.

Mueller described the information garnered from the letters as "critical building blocks in our counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations" and said he was concerned by the report's findings of abuses.

"We've already taken steps to correct these deficiencies," said Mueller, adding the FBI had bolstered internal checks on data collections and beefed up training for agents.

He added that the report "did not reveal intentional violations" of the rules, but "found confusion about the authorities available."

According to the Washington Post on Friday the FBI issued more than 19,000 such letters in 2005, amounting to 47,000 separate requests for information.

The report, which was mandated by Congress over the objections of President George W. Bush's administration, prompted angry reaction from lawmakers and civil libertarians after it was presented in Congress on Friday.

The audit found 22 breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department internal guidelines on obtaining such records. The FBI is part of the Justice Department.
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