SAN FRANCISCO – A judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing a federal information-sharing program of flagging innocent people as potential terrorists.
U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco said Monday that the standard used by the program to identify possible terror activity was legally adopted and not arbitrary.
The program — the National Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative — has state and local law enforcement flag behavior they think reasonably indicates terrorism-related planning or other criminal activity and report it to the FBI or federally funded law enforcement centers for vetting.
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued on behalf of five California men, arguing that the "reasonably indicative" standard was too broad and led to innocent people being identified.
The ACLU of Northern California said it was examining options for an appeal.
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