In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers swiftly passed a contentious U.S. surveillance law, reauthorizing and expanding its powers just after they expired at midnight. Despite opposition from privacy advocates and some legislators, the bill secured a 60-34 vote, breathing new life into Section 702 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Section 702 grants the government authority to gather communications from foreign individuals by accessing data from tech and phone companies. However, critics argue that FISA’s broad scope often results in the incidental collection of Americans’ communications during foreign surveillance activities.
Advocates of the bill, including White House officials and intelligence leaders, assert that FISA is crucial for preventing terrorist threats and cyberattacks. They emphasize its role in furnishing vital intelligence to safeguard national security, with the Biden administration highlighting that a significant portion of the president’s daily intelligence briefing relies on the Section 702 program.
Nonetheless, the reauthorization faced stiff opposition from privacy proponents and rights organizations. Their concerns primarily revolve around the absence of a requirement for the FBI or NSA to obtain warrants before searching the Section 702 database for Americans’ communications.
Efforts to introduce bipartisan amendments mandating warrants for searches targeting Americans’ communications faltered before the final Senate vote, leaving the bill unchanged.
Senator Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, lauded FISA as indispensable to the U.S. intelligence community following the bill’s passage. With the Senate’s approval, the bill now awaits the president’s signature, poised to become law.
Originally enacted in 1978, FISA has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years, particularly after the revelations of a global wiretapping program in 2013. The Senate’s decision to pass the surveillance bill into law was anticipated, though it faced fresh opposition following the House’s passage of an expanded version that garnered criticism for potentially broadening FISA’s scope to encompass smaller companies and telecom providers.
Despite communications providers’ reservations about the bill’s expanded definition of electronic communications service providers, attempts to amend the legislation were unsuccessful, paving the way for its passage.
Senator Ron Wyden, a vocal advocate for privacy reform, condemned the eleventh-hour renewal of warrantless surveillance, lamenting the lack of meaningful oversight. Nevertheless, the bill cleared the Senate soon after midnight.