DEA Failed to Obtain Legal Backing While Gathering Data in Drug Probes

The Drug Enforcement Administration over the past decade used its subpoena power to collect bulk telecommunications data during investigations but failed to follow legal protocol for protecting citizen privacy rights, a watchdog found. The Justice Department inspector general’s office, in a Thursday report redacted to mask “law enforcement sensitive” information, examined three programs the agency uses for “bulk collections” of communications data that are “unrelated to an individual, group, or entity that is the target of an investigation.”