#usafreedomact

Today, TechFreedom joined a coalition of companies, industry associations and civil society organizations in signing a letter calling on Congress to pass the USA FREEDOM Act.

The letter states:

With Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act set to expire in just 26 days, we believe the USA FREEDOM Act offers an effective path forward. The USA FREEDOM Act allows Congress to support privacy and civil liberties while also preserving targeted intelligence capabilities. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this legislation without weakening it.

The bill would put an end to bulk data collection authorized under the PATRIOT Act. It would also significantly improve transparency by requiring the disclosure of important rulings by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, increasing government reporting requirements regarding surveillance activities, and allowing greater levels of reporting by private entities that receive surveillance demands.

WASHINGTON D.C. —  Today, the Senate passed the USA FREEDOM Act  by a vote of 67-32. The bill ends all bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records — not only under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which sunset at midnight Sunday, but also under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) pen/trap provisions and National Security Letters. The bill also makes key reforms to the processes of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), declassifies all significant FISC opinions, and allows greater transparency on the scale of surveillance.

“By passing the USA FREEDOM Act, the Senate has restored legitimate intelligence capabilities while putting an end to needless domestic dragnet data collection,” said Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom. “While the Section 215 sunset was a symbolic victory for privacy, it would have allowed bulk collection to continue under other authorities, such as the FISA pen/trap statute and National Security Letters.”

“Congress should now work to address the mess of surveillance and privacy intrusions at all levels of government — not just for intelligence agencies, but for law enforcement, too,” continued Szoka. “It should start by putting an end to warrantless searches of Americans’ emails by police — a reform supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the House.”

WASHINGTON D.C. —  Today, the Senate rejected three amendments to the House-passed USA FREEDOM Act, a bill which ends bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) pen/trap statute, and National Security Letters — clearing the way for a vote on the bill.

The bill also makes key reforms to the processes of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), declassifies all significant FISC opinions, and allows greater transparency on the scale of surveillance.

Specifically, the Senate rejected three amendments:

S.A. 1449 (failed 43-56) - Would have required companies to notify the government before changing their data retention practices and certify that their new processes and procedures work

S.A. 1450 (failed 44-54) - Would have needlessly extended the transition period from government collection of data to private companies’ retention of data from 180 days to 12 months

S.A. 1451 (failed 42-56) - Would significantly weakened the provision allowing for amici, or “friends of the court,” to challenge intelligence agencies’ requests for data at FISC

“By watering down the USA FREEDOM Act, McConnell’s amendments would have been a poison pill for surveillance reform in the House,” said Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom. “Fortunately, the Senate refused to weaken what’s already a carefully-crafted compromise among privacy advocates, businesses, and the intelligence community. Leader McConnell’s amendments to the USA FREEDOM Act would have needlessly extended bulk collection, diluted FISA court oversight, and burdened businesses with a pointless data retention notification and certification requirement.”

###

We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See more of our work on surveillance, including:

Coalition letter opposing data retention mandates on the private sector

“McConnell is Playing a Dangerous Game with the PATRIOT Act,” a statement from TechFreedom

“The Senate Should Move Quickly on Surveillance Reform,” a statement from TechFreedom

Coalition letter urging Senator McConnell Not to Fast-Track the PATRIOT Act

About TechFreedom:

3 key provisions in the Patriot Act expired on June 1 paving the way for the USA Freedom Act to reform NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata. Source article on CNN.com 

WASHINGTON D.C. — Tonight at midnight, Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act will expire, which means the bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records by the NSA under that particular authority will end (although other provisions will allow other forms of mass surveillance of Americans without any connection to national security threats). The Senate also voted to end debate on the USA FREEDOM Act, a package of surveillance reforms that includes an end to all bulk collection programs — setting the stage for a vote this week on that bill and a scramble to amend the bill to either weaken or strengthen its reforms.

“The authors of the PATRIOT Act didn’t set out to create a surveillance state, but they set expiration dates on the law’s vaguest provisions to guard against that possibility,” said Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom, citing the intelligence agencies’ sweeping interpretation of Section 215’s “any tangible thing” language as the basis for bulk collection. “The Section 215 sunset allowed for careful reconsideration of a program that’s proven to be illegal, intrusive, ineffective, and costly. Congress now has an opportunity to replace mass surveillance with more carefully crafted intelligence programs that protect our constitutional rights — without jeopardizing our safety.”

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, TechFreedom joined a coalition of privacy-minded companies, industry and trade groups, and civil society organizations in opposition to the drafted FISA Improvements Act and FISA Reform Act of 2015 — proposed by Sens. Burr (R-NC) and Feinstein (D-CA) respectively — that fail to properly address overbroad surveillance activities under the PATRIOT Act, and would weaken privacy, civil liberties, and the digital economy.

The coalition letter warns that:

...both bills authorize the government to impose a data retention mandate on private businesses, a privacy-threatening measure that is unnecessary and unacceptable. As confirmed by the Director of National Intelligence and Attorney General this month, existing retention practices meet government needs, and do not raise security concerns. A retention mandate would only serve to hinder innovation, decrease trust in communication and technology products and services, and raise significant information security concerns.