Jimmy Carter: I Send Snail Mail for Fear of NSA Surveillance The 39th U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner has a bone to pick with the NSA.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
A sneaking distrust of government monitoring has spread within its own legions -- even among previous holders of the nation's top office.
Former President Jimmy Carter said he opts for snail mail as opposed to email when corresponding with foreign leaders for fear of spying.
The 89-year-old told Meet the Press that NSA surveillance tactics are being "extremely liberalized and, I think, abused by our own intelligence agencies."
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During the interview with Andrea Mitchell, in which Carter promoted his latest book, A Call to Action, he also noted that President Obama does not call upon him for advice -- though previous presidents have.
Back in January, President Obama announced a change to the way that cell phone metadata would be stored during a speech at the Department of Justice.
While collection will continue, Obama said, an independent third party would now store the data rather than the government itself. Additionally, looking ahead, the government would only be allowed to access records of citizens that are alleged to be two steps -- as opposed to the former three steps -- removed from a terrorist organization.
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