Losing civil rights?

Section 702, which was added to FISA in 2008, allows the government (specifically, the National Security Agency) to conduct targeted surveillance via the internet and cell phones of foreigners abroad, without a warrant. Alarmingly, it also allows surveillance of US citizens who are in contact with foreigners overseas in order to provide foreign intelligence information. There is no judicial oversight and it’s only subjected to a limited Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which operates covertly and hears exclusively from executive branch agencies.

But it’s not popular

Donald Trump is insisting on a clean reauthorization without any changes to the policy, but members within his own party want more protections to prevent warrantless surveillance of Americans. Last week, House Speaker Johnson released a proposal that would renew Section 702, but it didn’t include a warrant requirement, which House Freedom Caucus members, most Democrats, and privacy-minded members are seeking.

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Policy Perspectives

Just how bad is it?

In plain terms, the NSA collects full conversations, like your emails, WhatsApp messages, even phone calls, by people overseas and goes through them. In their minds, because they’ve already collected the information, why not go through it? Businesses, like Google, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, are also pulled into inadvertently helping spy agencies because those that have access to equipment or products that can store and transmit communications can be required by law to turn over that information to the government without a warrant.

Over the years, the FBI has abused this tool to conduct surveillance on Americans’ communications, which has included Black Lives Matter protesters, members of Congress, activists, journalists, and over 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign. All of these were labelled as “foreign intelligence” queries. In 2022 alone, the FBI conducted over 200,000 “backdoor” searches.

Creeping surveillance

Section 702 is a glimpse into the beast that is the US government surveillance system. It relies on Americans not understanding or not knowing much about it. In this age, where the administration is giving DHS permission to deny or rescind green cards from people who express support for causes like Palestine, an invasive surveillance tool like FISA will only make life more difficult for activists, immigrants, and even regular Americans swept up by accident.

Even from a constitutional angle, this law is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment, due process, and our right to privacy. It relegates the American people as second class citizens and leaves them without due process safeguards. There’s really no doubt this law will be weaponized to disenfranchise, target, and surveil predominantly Black, Brown, and left-wing Americans, similar to how the Patriot Act was abused to harm the same communities, ensuring that the abuses will continue indefinitely and without accountability.

Our civil rights shouldn’t come at the expense of our privacy. In a healthy democracy, these aren’t mutually exclusive and Congress needs to do more to protect both, not just one. It can start by reigning in the abuse of backdoor surveillance, requiring a warrant for all US person searches and subsequently ending unchecked government surveillance and overreach.

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ON OUR RADAR

Mercenaries in Sudan

The Department of Treasury sanctioned three Colombian people and two firms for recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to fight with the RSF in Sudan. Sudan continues to be exploited by external actors, all of whom are taking advantage of the chaos and resulting in a steady rise in the number of deaths of civilians.

Trump continues to force blind obedience

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is dropping her investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the cost for renovations at the central bank, in a move that is likely to create a path for Kevin Warsh to replace Powell. The four year term Chair is designed to be a nonpartisan, independent position; Powell, who was nominated by Trump, has been targeted by the president for failing to act at the behest of Trump, despite the fact that Chairs are supposed to be protected by arbitrary dismissal to avoid impacting banking and markets.

WHCA dinner shooter charged

Cole Allen, the California resident who attempted to assassinate Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, was charged this week. Questions are being asked about the security at the Washington Hilton, which was also the site of the Reagan assassination attempt in 1981.

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