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U.S. NEWS Thursday 27 december 2018

In this photo provided by Colin O’Brady, of Portland., Ore., he speaks on the phone in Antarctica
on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018.
Associated Press
American man first to solo ACLU sues government

across Antarctica unaided to learn about NSA

call records program

By AMANDA LEE MYERS The day before, he posted the trek on Nov. 3. He had
Associated Press that he was “in the zone” to haul 375 pounds (170 By LARRY NEUMEISTER
An Oregon man became and thought he could kilograms) of gear largely Associated Press
the first person to traverse make it to the end in one uphill and over sastrugi, NEW YORK (AP) — A civil rights group has sued the U.S.
Antarctica alone without go. wave-like ridges created government, saying it needs more information about sur-
any assistance on Wednes- “I’m listening to my body by wind. veillance of Americans’ phone and financial records to
day, trekking across the po- and taking care of the de- “Not only am I pulling my ... guide the public debate over what will happen when the
lar continent in an epic 54- tails to keep myself safe,” sled all day, but I’m pulling law that regulates the scrutiny expires next year.
day journey that was previ- he wrote. “I called home it up and over thousands The American Civil Liberties Union sued the National Se-
ously deemed impossible. and talked to my mom, sis- of these sastrugi speed curity Agency, the director of national intelligence, the
Colin O’Brady, of Portland, ter and wife — I promised bumps created by the vio- CIA and the Justice Department on Friday in Manhat-
finished the bone-chilling, them I will stop when I need lent wind,” he wrote in an tan federal court, seeking information about a program
930-mile (1,500-kilometer) to.” Instagram post on Nov. 12. that collects records during investigations into terrorism or
journey as friends, family Though others have tra- “It’s a frustrating process at clandestine intelligence activities.
and fans tracked the en- versed Antarctica, they times to say the least.” According to the lawsuit, the government has not re-
durance athlete’s progress either had assistance with On Nov. 18, he wrote that sponded to requests made last month for information
in real time online. reinforced supplies or kites he awoke to find his sled about its surveillance of Americans under a 2015 law.
“It was an emotional call,” that helped propel them completely buried from an Congress used the law to set boundaries on the NSA’s
she said. “He seemed over- forward. all-night blasting of wind bulk collection of call records and other data after for-
whelmed by love and grati- In 2016, British explorer Hen- and snow. That day he mer NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents
tude, and he really wanted ry Worsley died attempt- battled a 30 mph (48 kph) revealing extensive government surveillance.
to say ‘Thank you’ to all of ing an unassisted solo trip headwind for eight hours The law requires annual reports to Congress from the intel-
us.” across Antarctica, collaps- as he trudged along. ligence community and forces the government to seek a
O’Brady was sleeping near ing from exhaustion toward “There were several times I court order to collect call records to obtain intelligence.
the finish line in Antarc- the end of the trek. Wors- considered stopping, put- Requests of records of U.S. citizens for investigations can-
tica late Wednesday and ley’s friend and fellow Eng- ting my tent back up and not be based solely on activities protected by the First
could not immediately be lish adventurer Louis Rudd calling it a day,” he wrote. Amendment.
reached for comment. is currently attempting an “I wanted so badly to quit A government spokesman declined comment.
The 33-year-old O’Brady unaided solo in Worsley’s today as I was feeling ex- The limits on the surveillance are due to expire in 2019,
documented his nearly en- honor and was competing hausted and alone, but re- and the ACLU says more information is needed for a
tirely uphill journey — which against O’Brady to be the membering all of the posi- healthy debate before the law is reauthorized or changes
he called The Impossible first to do it. tivity that so many people are made. The group said the failure of the government
First — on his Instagram Besaw said O’Brady plans have been sending, I took to release any relevant records since the submission of
page . He wrote Wednes- to stay on Antarctica until a deep breath and fo- its Freedom of Information Act request last month is con-
day that he covered the Rudd finishes his trek, hope- cused on maintaining for- cerning because the request “relates to sweeping sur-
last roughly 80 miles (129 fully in the next few days. ward progress one step at veillance activities that implicate core privacy and free
kilometers) in one big, im- “It’s a small club,” she a time and managed to speech rights of Americans,” according to the lawsuit.
promptu final push to the joked. “His intention is to finish a full day.” The lawsuit, the ACLU added, is necessary because the
finish line that took well wait for Louis and have Though O’Brady had ini- public lacks adequate information about how the gov-
over an entire day. kind of a celebratory mo- tially thought he’d want a ernment collects vast numbers of Americans’ communi-
“While the last 32 hours ment with the only other cheeseburger at the end cations records, financial records and other data without
were some of the most person on the planet to of his nearly impossible jour- a warrant. It said the law was meant to curtail unneces-
challenging hours of my have accomplished this ney, Besaw said her hus- sary surveillance, but data collection continues to occur
life, they have quite hon- same thing.” band has been fantasizing on an immense scale. For instance, the lawsuit noted, the
estly been some of the best O’Brady described in detail about fresh fish and salad, government said it collected over 534 million call detail
moments I have ever expe- the ups and downs along since he’s mostly been eat- records in 2017 even though it reported having only 40
rienced,” O’Brady posted. the way since he began ing freeze-dried foods.q surveillance targets.q