It also allows the government to track and monitor Americans without a warrant, even when there is no evidence they're breaking the law.
And while two separate laws require the government to announce new systems of data collection of Americans, there has been no acknowledgement of the expanded watchlist.
Over the years, that watchlist has grown to include 1.2 million people, among whom are roughly 6,000 Americans that the FBI associates with domestic terrorism.
"When we put Americans on that list, there damn well better be a good reason investigatively that they committed a criminal act.
Few people know about the TOC watchlist or its expansive scope, even at some of the highest levels of the national security establishment.
Half a dozen senior officials across multiple departments were unaware that a TOC watchlist existed at all until Newsweek contacted them.
Last September, U.S. District Judge Trenga ruled that the Terrorist Screening Database violated Americans' Constitutional right to due process. »