The U.S. Senate is poised to vote this week on a bill that would significantly expand the number of companies the U.S. government can force to wiretap American citizens without a warrant for at least the next two years. From the report: Some of the nation's top legal experts on the controversial U.S. spy program say the bill, known as the Information Reform and Security Securing America Act (RISAA), would strengthen the U.S. government's spying powers and allow a variety of emerging They argue that it would allow companies to secretly eavesdrop on Americans' information. Calls, texts and email messages abroad. These experts include a small number of lawyers who have had the rare opportunity to appear before the U.S. government's secret surveillance courts.
The Section 702 program, authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), legalizes the government's practice of forcing major telecommunications companies to wiretap foreign phone calls in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. was founded over 10 years ago. . However, the government maintains that the program is designed only for foreign nationals physically residing abroad. On the other hand, the government often taps Americans' emails and phone conversations years after the fact and in cases unrelated to the reason the wiretaps were ordered in the first place. He has fiercely defended the ability to access.
The 702 program works by forcing the cooperation of U.S. companies defined by the government as “electronic communications service providers” (traditionally telephone and email providers such as AT&T and Google). Members of the House Intelligence Committee, who currently serve primarily as lobbyists for the U.S. intelligence community in Congress, want to expand the definition of the term to allow the government to compel new categories of companies to wiretap on its behalf. We are proceeding with efforts to do so.