The National Security Administration campus in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Image: Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

By Jessica Plautz2014-12-25 22:24:44 UTC

The National Security Agency went all out on a Christmas gift this year: a decade's worth of declassified documents on the unauthorized surveillance of Americans.

Turns out it's the NSA that sees you when you're sleeping, and knows when you're awake.

The documents were released Wednesday afternoon, in response to an ACLU lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. They cover the agency's activities from mid-2001 through early 2013 and they are heavily redacted.

Even so, the reports detail numerous "errors" over the years as NSA analysts searched through its information databases and accessed the communications of Americans, which is prohibited.

The vast majority of compliance incidents involve unintentional technical or human error, the NSA said in the executive summary. "These materials show, over a sustained period of time, the depth and rigor of NSAs commitment to compliance."

"NSA goes to great lengths to ensure compliance with the Constitution, laws and regulations.

Indeed, much of the reports detail things like accidental queries on the wrong "targets," or overly broad searches that reveal a lack of proper training for analysts. However, some of the errors were intentional.

Continued here:

NSA waits until Christmas Eve to reveal a decade's worth of its mistakes