Biden Signs FISA Extension Despite Privacy Concerns

(Worthy News) – President Joe Biden signed into law an expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) following its approval by Congress in a bipartisan 60-34 vote late Friday night. This extension concludes a rigorous six-month debate over the intelligence law, which critics argue was misused by federal authorities against U.S. citizens. Although the intelligence community secured enhanced surveillance capabilities, opposition efforts succeeded in limiting the duration of these powers to two years.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorizes the government to gather and scrutinize the communications of foreign entities, including interactions with Americans and others within the U.S., without a warrant. Critics have highlighted that in the year ending 2021, the FBI misused these warrantless search capabilities against U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times.

However, supporters of FISA argued that previous abuses have been addressed. They noted that recent FBI actions, now enshrined in law, restrict the number of individuals allowed to access the data and establish criminal penalties for its intentional misuse.

The bill secured Senate approval with a bipartisan 60-34 vote late on Friday, just hours before the existing authorization was due to lapse. Advocates for the surveillance measure successfully blocked attempts to implement a warrant requirement and reduce the bill’s extended authority.

Under the new provisions, data centers may be compelled to provide information that transits their servers. Additionally, the revised bill reduces the reauthorization period for Section 702 from five years to two years.

Critics labeled it the “everyone is a spy” provision; the data center clause was added to the bill late in the legislative process and became a significant point of contention in the Senate.

“It’s important that people understand how sweeping this bill is,” remarked Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Intelligence Committee and an advocate for privacy protections.

“There would be practically no limits to who can be forced into spying for the government,” stated Wyden. “A provision was added at the last minute that would essentially require someone like a cable technician to spy for the government.”  Wyden noted that any company involved in installing, maintaining, or repairing Wi-Fi or other communication systems in any American business, home, or church could be compelled to participate.  He concluded, “They would be forced to comply, and there would be no avenue for appeal.”

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) commented on X, stating, “the Senate passed the House-passed FISA expansion bill—after rejecting seven different amendments requiring a warrant and otherwise reforming FISA 702. This is a horrible bill. It shows wanton disregard for the rights of Americans. This is not a day to celebrate.”

Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, pointed out that cloud computing and data centers did not exist when FISA was initially formulated. He emphasized that the law needs to be updated to enable the government to collect the types of data it requires.

FISA was first enacted in 1978 to establish protocols for surveillance and the collection of foreign intelligence on U.S. soil. The act gained significant attention in December 2005 when The New York Times revealed the NSA’s warrantless domestic wiretapping program, which had been implemented under the Bush administration starting in 2002. Subsequent reporting by Bloomberg indicated that such activities might have begun as early as June 2000.

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