Despite widespread unpopularity at the idea of the government having legal access to every megabyte of our electronic communications, the National Security Agency remains a staunch defender of its own controversial policies.

In a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, NSA Director Keith Alexander argued against imposing limits on surveillance programs and claimed that the agency has top-notch accountability procedures.

"This agency in every case reports on itself, tells you what we did wrong," Alexander said.

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Many, including Edward Snowden, the man whose security leaks sparked the NSA controversy in the first place, would argue the NSA's entire interpretation of their mandate seems to be wrong, but that seems to be beside the point here.

In any case, Committee chairman Patrick Leahy has stated that more oversight of the nation's top surveillance body is "clearly needed," and draft legislation to reform the NSA is set to be debated next month.

 

Read the full story at the Guardian.

Reach Executive Producer Francesca Bessey here.