Keep Pushing: We Get 10 More Days to Reform Section 702

Source: Hacker News

Background

In a dramatic middle‑of‑the‑night stand‑off, a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushing for true reform and privacy protections for Americans bought us more time to fight. They are holding out for, at a minimum, the requirement of an actual probable‑cause warrant for FBI access to information collected under the mass‑spying program known as Section 702.

A reauthorization with virtually no changes was defeated because a core group of lawmakers held strong; they know that people are hungry for real reform that protects the privacy of our communications. We now have a 10‑day extension to continue to push Congress to pass a real reform bill.

Legislative Action

Lawmakers rallied late Thursday night to reject a proposed amendment that made gestures at privacy protections but would not have improved on the status quo and would have reauthorized Section 702 for five more years.

Why Section 702 Needs Reform

Section 702 is rife with problems, loopholes, and compliance issues that need fixing. The National Security Agency collects full conversations conducted by and with targets overseas—including by and with Americans in the U.S.—and stores them in massive databases. The NSA then allows other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to access untold amounts of that information.

Under current practice, the FBI can query and even read the U.S. side of that communication without a warrant (source). Victims of this surveillance often won’t even know they have been surveilled and have very few ways of finding out that their communications have been used as evidence. EFF and other civil‑liberties advocates have been trying for years to know when data collected through Section 702 is used against them (example).

Recent Concerns

Senator Ron Wyden has warned of a “secret interpretation” of the law that enables surveillance of Americans and sent a public “Dear Colleague” letter about FBI abuse of Section 702 (letter).

“In many cases these will be law‑abiding Americans having perfectly legitimate, often sensitive, conversations,” Wyden wrote. “These Americans could include journalists, foreign aid workers, people with family members overseas — even women trying to get abortion medication from an overseas provider. Congress has an obligation to protect our country from foreign threats and protect the rights of these and other Americans.”

How to Help

We have 10 days to make it clear to Congress that Section 702 needs real reforms—not a blanket reauthorization or lip‑service changes.

Take action now and tell Congress: 702 needs reform.