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Due Process Institute Urges NO Vote on Rule for Section 702 Reauthorization
April 15, 2026–Due Process Institute urged members of Congress to vote NO on the rule providing for consideration of the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), H.R. 8035. Advancing reauthorization under a restrictive rule would curtail meaningful debate and prevent consideration of long-overdue reforms to a surveillance authority that implicates Americans’ constitutional rights.
Recent changes to Section 702 have failed to address key concerns, including warrantless “backdoor” searches of Americans’ communications and the government’s ability to purchase sensitive data from third-party brokers. The alert also raised concerns about the expansion of surveillance authorities to a broader range of service providers.
Congress should reject the rule unless it allows votes on critical amendments, including requiring warrants for U.S. person searches, narrowing surveillance authorities, and closing data broker loopholes. Without these safeguards, reauthorization would undermine core Fourth Amendment protections.
We Urge Congress to Reject Reauthorization of FISA Section 702 Without Meaningful Reforms
March 12, 2026—Due Process Institute and a coalition of bipartisan privacy organizations urged congressional leadership to oppose any reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without meaningful reforms. The letter highlighted serious concerns about ongoing warrantless “backdoor” searches of Americans’ communications, repeated violations of court-ordered safeguards, and the recent dismantling of key oversight mechanisms, including the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
Extending Section 702 without reform would expand unchecked surveillance powers and undermine core constitutional protections. Instead, the letter calls on Congress to adopt bipartisan safeguards—such as requiring warrants for U.S. person searches, closing data broker loopholes, and strengthening transparency and accountability—to ensure that national security authorities do not come at the expense of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.
We Call for FISA Section 702 Reforms
December 11, 2025–Due Process Institute joined a coalition of privacy and civil liberties organization to express the need for reform to surveillance, in particular Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA 702”), to the House Judiciary Committee. FISA 702 is a warrantless surveillance authority that collects the private communications of a huge number of Americans. It has been repeatedly misused, and lacks the independent oversight that serves as a foundational check for government surveillance of Americans. Without significant reform, FISA 702 could be weaponized and abused in the future. In particular, we believe the following four reforms are critical policies to include in any extension of FISA 702:
1) Close the Backdoor Search Loophole: The most significant danger from FISA 702 surveillance is warrantless U.S. person queries. These queries enable government personnel to conduct “backdoor searches,” circumventing the need for court approval to deliberately seek out and read Americans’ communications.
2) Close the Data Broker Loophole: Intelligence agencies and law enforcement should only be able to collect Americans’ sensitive records with court approval. Yet all too often this basic protection is evaded by exploiting the Data Broker Loophole, with agencies ignoring courts and instead buying Americans’ data.
3) Fix the Overbroad Expansion of Electronic Communications Service Providers: Prior to the last reauthorization of FISA 702, the FISA Court ruled that a certain (still not publicly disclosed) type of entity the government sought to issue directives to did not fit within the definition of “electronic communication service provider” (“ECSP”), prompting Congress to broaden this definition. Unfortunately because this topic was addressed in a rushed manner and the underlying issue was kept shrouded in secrecy, the new definition is dangerously overbroad.
4) Facilitate Better Access to Information and Amici Engagement at the FISA Court: The establishment of amici to present views in support of privacy and civil liberties has been a valuable improvement to the FISA Court. The amici provide much-needed oversight and ensure the FISA Court has access to different legal perspectives amid deliberations that have huge impact on Americans’ rights but are cut off from public engagement. However the amici are still overly restricted in ability to access critical materials and proceedings.
Due Process Institute Calls on New Director of National Intelligence to Prioritize Civil Liberties
March 4, 2025–Due Process Institute and undersigned civil society organizations, wrote to new Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard to express interest in engaging on issues related to surveillance and civil liberties, especially on commitment to ensuring that a warrant is required before agencies subject Americans to queries of their private data acquired through Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). As Senator Mike Lee has stated, “The Fourth Amendment protects our right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, including the search of our private electronic communications.”
As Congress begins early discussions about the 2026 reauthorization of Section 702, we believe it is critical that policymakers and the public have access to key factual information that will ensure the legislative debate is based on a full and accurate understanding of the program’s impact. Accordingly, we urge you to take the following initial steps to enhance public trust and oversight of government surveillance authorities:
Finally, previous administrations have taken meaningful steps to engage with and meet with civil society organizations on surveillance and transparency issues on a regular basis, and we strongly encourage you to continue this practice. Ongoing dialogue between the intelligence community and civil society is vital to ensuring that surveillance policies reflect democratic principles and the public interest.
DPI + Demand Progress Release Statement on Mike Turner’s Ousting from House Intelligence Leadership
January 16, 2025–On the evening on January 15, Punchbowl News reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson has decided to remove Rep. Mike Turner as chair of the House Intelligence committee because of his handling of last year’s FISA reauthorization, which will imminently return to Congress’s docket. A left-right coalition consisting of Demand Progress, Due Process Institute, FreedomWorks and Restore the Fourth called for Turner to resign as chair nearly a year ago. The following is a statement from Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka and Due Process Institute Vice President Jason Pye:
“As we said 11 months ago, Mike Turner abused his chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee to mislead his colleagues, stop commonsense privacy protections, sneak through massive expansions of warrantless surveillance and even compromise classified information. His removal couldn’t come soon enough, and it should serve as a warning to whomever his replacement is ahead of the imminent debate over FISA. We will fight just as hard against any other leader of this committee who mistakes its responsibility to conduct oversight of intelligence agencies as an excuse to push out propaganda and enable surveillance of people in the United States.”
We Call For Transparency On Scope of Section 702 Surveillance
October 15, 2024–Due Process Institute and other civil liberties organizations wrote to Director Haines and General Haugh to demand that the NSA supplies a public estimate of the number of U. S. persons’ communications that are “incidentally” collected as part of NSA’s surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. This information has been requested repeatedly by legislators since at least 2011, and by civil society organizations since at least 2015.
An estimate of the number of U.S. persons’ communications obtained under Section 702 is vital to correct such misinformation, and to convey to Congress and to people across America the truth of the matter—namely, that there is substantial warrantless “incidental” collection of U.S. person communications under this authority. This estimate must be provided before the congressional debate over the next reauthorization of Section 702. The authority is scheduled to expire in April 2026, and the debate will likely begin well in advance of that date—perhaps as early as next spring.
ODNI and NSA cannot expect that public trust to be unconditional. If ODNI and NSA continue to renege on pledges to members of Congress, and to withhold information that lawmakers, civil society, academia and the press have persistently sought over the course of thirteen years, that public trust will be fatally undermined. It is time to follow through, and to convey a public commitment by a date certain in early 2025 to provide to the public and to Congress the estimate in question.
Due Process Institute Reacts to the Senate’s Expansion of Mass Surveillance Powers
April 22, 2024–Statement by Shana-Tara O’Toole, Founder and President of Due Process Institute, on the United States Senate’s passage of Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act without amendment:
“We are dismayed by the Senate’s passage, without amendment, of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA) over the weekend. This legislation not only reauthorizes FISA Section 702 and enables intelligence agencies to continue mass warrantless surveillance, it expands the power of the surveillance state by giving the government authority to compel assistance from the vast majority of US businesses for domestic spying. This bill’s passage was, in large part, made possible by fear tactics and outright falsities about the April 19 deadline. The biggest losers of this vote are unfortunately the American people who will continue to be subjected to warrantless searches of their personal communications.
While we cannot hide our disappointment over the passage of RISAA and the ramifications for privacy are severe, we want to thank those Senators who championed the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment, including: Chairman Durbin and Senators Lee, Paul, and Wyden. Furthermore, the momentum built by our coalition of civil liberties organizations cannot be ignored as illustrated by this week’s passage of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act in the House. The next FISA reauthorization is two years away, during which we will continue to fight for your privacy rights.”
We Oppose the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA)
April 1, 2024–Due Process Institute and a coalition of civil liberties organizations urged Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries to oppose the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), H.R.7320, and to block its consideration on the House Floor unless members have the opportunity to vote on amendments that were critical components of this legislation’s negotiated introduction. House Members across the political spectrum are eager to vote for legislation that reforms Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and moving forward with only a vote on RISAA would deprive them of that opportunity. Blocking off votes on critical issues that have been central to the past year’s debate over FISA would harm Americans’ privacy, as well as needlessly threaten Section 702’s future viability.
By hewing closely to HPSCI’s legislation, RISAA is carefully crafted to preserve the status quo, not to enact the serious privacy protections for which most Americans and members of Congress are calling. We therefore urge you to oppose Floor consideration of any legislation, including RISAA, that would reauthorize Section 702 without providing votes on key amendments, including those to close the backdoor search and data broker loopholes.
We Urge Congress to Reject Inclusion of Section 702 Reauthorization in Must-Pass Funding Bill
February 28, 2024–Due Process Institute and a coalition of civil liberties and privacy organizations joined to urge congressional leaders to oppose the inclusion of Section 702 reauthorization in a must-pass funding bill and to categorically reject any such approach. Section 702 has been routinely abused in ways that violate Americans’ fundamental civil liberties and civil rights. FBI agents have used this surveillance authority, which is supposed to be limited to non-U.S. citizens located outside the United States, to gain warrantless access to the communications of tens of thousands of protesters, racial justice activists, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, journalists, and members of the U.S. Congress.
In its current form, this authority is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and — ultimately — far-reaching reforms. Bypassing this process by slipping an extension of the law into a must-pass funding bill would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people.
It is clear that the only reason for including Section 702 in the continuing resolution would be to deny members a vote on critically-needed reforms. We urge you not to betray the trust of the American people by following such a course of action.
We Strongly Oppose the House’s Use of a Secret Session to Reauthorize Mass Surveillance Authorities
February 14, 2024–Due Process Institute and a broad bipartisan coalition of privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and government transparency organizations joined in a statement on the House’s plan to move at least part of the public debate over mass and often secret surveillance behind closed doors in a secret session:
“It is appalling that the U.S. House of Representatives has not learned the lessons of the last secret session on warrantless surveillance in 2008, which perpetuated a mass violation of constitutional rights. This week, the House is poised to repeat those mistakes by going into another extraordinarily rare and wholly unnecessary secret session to shut out the public and potentially move toward another expansion of warrantless surveillance powers.
The reason why there is bipartisan support among civil society and members of Congress for warrantless surveillance reform is the well-documented abuses of FISA authorities by the federal government for well over a decade. These powers have been used to conduct tens of thousands of inappropriate searches, some related to the exercise of constitutionally protected activities. Members of Congress have been surveilled, average Americans have been surveilled, and unless there is reform now, the abuses will continue.
According to a recent poll, 78% of Americans think Congress should “strengthen privacy protections for people in the U.S. against warrantless government surveillance.” Congress has a duty to continue public debate and not circumvent the American people. To conduct proceedings in secret on a set of authorities that directly impact Americans is antithetical to a free society.”
We Call On Senate Majority Leader Schumer To Reject Short-Term Reauthorization of FISA Section 702
November 13, 2023–Due Process Institute and the undersigned organization wrote to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to express strong opposition to even a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 and urged to keep any such provision out of the continuing resolution and any other must-pass legislation.
Section 702 has been routinely abused in ways that violate Americans’ fundamental civil liberties and civil rights. FBI agents have used this surveillance authority, which is supposed to be limited to non-U.S. citizens located outside the United States, to gain warrantless access to the communications of tens of thousands of protesters, racial justice activists, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, journalists, and members of the U.S. Congress. Even after the FBI’s recent changes to its internal procedures, the abuses have continued, with agents conducting warrantless searches for the communications of a U.S. senator, a state senator, and a state court judge who contacted the FBI to report civil rights violations by a local police chief. NSA agents, for their part, have abused the authority to search for the communications of online dating prospects and potential tenants.
In its current form, this authority is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and — ultimately — far-reaching reforms. Allowing a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 to be slipped into a must-pass bill would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people.
We Endorse The Government Surveillance Reform Act
November 7, 2023–Due Process Institute supported today’s introduction of the sweeping, bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA), which renews Section 702 of FISA for four years and reforms the law to better protect national security and Americans’ Constitutional rights. Notably, it reforms 702 to protect Americans from warrantless backdoor searches, ensures that foreigners aren’t targeted as a pretext for spying on the Americans with whom they are communicating, and prohibits the collection of domestic communications.
While section 702 features a sunset, it is not the only FISA authority in need of reforms. The Act ends warrantless collection of business records, ensures that the government provides accurate information to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and requires meaningful accountability for violations of the law. Americans’ privacy is also threatened by unchecked surveillance conducted by intelligence agencies outside of FISA. This surveillance, undertaken pursuant to Executive Order 12333, presents many of the same problems as FISA surveillance only without statutory checks and balances or court oversight. The Act extends many of the same reforms needed for 702 to 12333 activities, including by limiting warrantless searches of Americans’ communications and prohibiting the targeting of foreigners as a pretext for surveilling Americans. It also limits the acquisition of Americans’ information as part of large datasets.
Federal law governing law enforcement surveillance has not kept pace with developments in technology, in large part because Congress hasn’t meaningfully updated relevant law in decades. The Act restores Constitutional protections that have been undermined by modern collection methods, by requiring warrants for surveillance of Americans’ location data, web browsing and search records, and by prohibiting the government from purchasing Americans’ data from data brokers.
The Government Surveillance Reform Act represents the most balanced, comprehensive surveillance reform bill in 45 years. This bill will strengthen the legal foundations of a vital national security authority by ensuring U.S. government surveillance of Americans takes place under a consistent, Congressionally-enacted legal framework, supervised by independent judges.
Due Process Institute Releases Statement On PCLOB Section 702 Report
September 28, 2023–Due Process Institute and civil liberties groups advocates issued the following statement responding to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) long-awaited report on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which outlined abuses over the past few years, revealing that, “[i]n the reporting period covering November 2020 to December 2021, non-compliant queries related to civil unrest numbered in the tens of thousands”:
“The message of the Board’s report is clear: individualized judicial review of U.S. person queries is critical to protect Americans’ rights and prevent further abuses. The report flatly rejects the government’s self-serving claim that individualized judicial review is unworkable. It also rejects the baseless notion that broad categories of these searches, such as searches for foreign intelligence or so-called ‘defensive’ searches for potential victims’ information, should be exempted from this requirement. And it rejects the fallacy that the FBI’s tweaks to its internal procedures are sufficient to address the acute risks posed by backdoor searches.
Three members of the Board stated that they would support a probable cause standard for U.S. person queries in any criminal investigation, including those related to foreign intelligence. In her statement, the Chair of the Board compellingly explained why the full ‘probable cause’ standard is required by the Fourth Amendment and necessary to safeguard Americans’ privacy. We believe the same logic supports a requirement for a probable cause order for any U.S. person query.
We note that the Board limited its inquiry and its recommendations to Section 702. It did not address many of the other issues that are very much part of the current debate, including the government’s use of data brokers to circumvent legal protections for Americans’ privacy and the use of overseas surveillance to collect Americans’ information without statutory authority or judicial oversight. Congress, however, must address these issues. If it limits itself to reforms of Section 702, the government will simply continue its warrantless surveillance of Americans using these other methods.”
We Call For Substantial Reforms to Section 702
June 12, 2023–Due Process Institute and a coalition of civil rights organizations urged Congress to not reauthorize Section 702 without critical reforms ahead of the Senate Judiciary hearing on June 13. Section 702 reform is urgent as it has become a rich source of warrantless government access to Americans’ phone calls, texts, and emails. Since Section 702 was last reauthorized, a series of disclosures has revealed the extent of this problem. In 2022 alone, the FBI conducted over 200,000 warrantless searches of Section 702 communications to find Americans’ information. Congress can address the use of Section 702 to spy on Americans, the barriers to judicial review, the vast government collection personal communication data with no statutory limits, and the economic and privacy impact of overbroad surveillance through these reforms and solutions:
First, lawmakers must put a stop to the government using Section 702 as an end-run around Americans’ constitutional rights. Congress should require agencies to obtain a warrant (in criminal investigations) or a FISA Title I order (in foreign intelligence investigations) before searching Section 702-acquired information for Americans’ communications.
Second, Congress should strengthen FISA’s amici provisions by giving amici better access to relevant information and by encouraging appointment of amici in cases involving sensitive targets such as religious or political organizations, candidates for public office, and the media. An amendment that would have implemented these measures, offered by Senators Leahy and Lee, passed the Senate by a vote of 77-19 in 2020.9 Congress also should prohibit the government’s use of “parallel construction” to avoid notice obligations. And it should correct the Supreme Court’s misreading of FISA by clarifying that federal courts may review surveillance materials in civil cases.
Third, any surveillance that results in the collection of Americans’ communications and other sensitive data should take place pursuant to statute and with oversight by Congress and the courts. Accordingly, Congress should legislate basic protections for any EO 12333 surveillance that impacts Americans. These protections should include limits on bulk collection, which poses unique threats to Americans’ privacy; a warrant requirement for backdoor searches of EO 12333 data; and oversight by Congress and the FISA Court.
Finally, Congress should enact limits that will prevent the targeting of ordinary private citizens who are unlikely to be communicating information about foreign threats. Congress also should remove barriers to judicial review and establish limits on bulk collection, as described above. These measures would both protect Americans’ privacy and address the threat that Section 702 surveillance poses to U.S. businesses. It’s high time for Congress to step in and enact these reforms that will safeguard Americans’ rights and business interests.
We Call for Congressional Hearings on Surveillance Reform
March 15, 2023–Due Process Institute, Americans for Prosperity, Restore the Fourth, Demand Progress Action, Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability, FreedomWorks, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Free Press Action wrote to urge congressional leaders to hold hearings on the government’s surveillance of Americans given the latest revelations of unconstitutional surveillance by the intelligence community made at last week’s hearings held by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. These revelations included the warrantless searches of Section 702 data based on local political party affiliation and racial profiling, over 200,000 searches of Americans’ communications in 2022 by the FBI, and the circumvention of court order requirements by federal agencies when obtaining mobile phone geolocation data.
Congress must approach its review of the 702 program and related intelligence operations with the same purpose as the original Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978: to rein in rogue intelligence agencies and ensure proper Congressional oversight. This year’s Section 702 reauthorization debate presents a unique opportunity for Congress to work together to accomplish much needed reforms. Meaningful proposals have long been pursued by members across the political spectrum who have rightly expressed concern with warrantless surveillance of people in the United States. To inform the debate, it is necessary for the committees of jurisdiction to begin holding hearings with a focus on protecting the civil liberties of all Americans.
DPI Joins Coalition of Civil Liberties Groups To Limit Warrantless Surveillance of Americans
July 26, 2021–Due Process Institute joined a letter to urge all members of the House of Representatives to support the Lofgren-Massie amendment offered to H.R. 4505, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2022. This amendment would prohibit the use of funds for the warrantless search of United States persons’ communications acquired under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), the controversial foreign intelligence authority that acquires an untold number of Americans’ Fourth Amendment protected information.
According to one opinion, the FBI, over the course of one year, conducted three million queries of a single database containing Section 702 communications, most of which presumably were U.S. person queries in light of the FBI’s primarily domestic mission. Although Congress has required the FBI to obtain a FISC order for a small subset of these queries, the FISC found that the FBI has literally never complied with this statutory requirement and has violated it on at least dozens of occasions. Ending this unconstitutional practice is imperative to ensure that foreign intelligence surveillance does not swallow Americans’ privacy rights.
DPI Joins Coalition Calling for Reform of the Intelligence Authorization Act
November 24, 2020–Due Process Institute and our allies joined a letter to highlight the deeply problematic nature of the Intelligence Authorization Act in its current form. Sections of this bill establish social media and online threat surveillance but provide no clear definitions to shield us from the ensuing and sweeping data collection. These stipulations also offer no safeguards for the victims of baseless suspicion and will further stigmatize vulnerable communities. The insufficient regulations in the Intelligence Authorization Act ultimately open the door to future First and Fourth Amendment violations. We call for these sections to be removed, protections to be strengthened, and to expand independent amici in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
DPI and Coalition Urge House Leadership to Allow Proper Consideration of FISA Reauthorization
September 14, 2020–Due Process Institute and a bipartisan group of leaders in Congress have been fighting for months to secure reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that establish reasonable safeguards without hindering our national security. Key provisions of FISA have now lacked Congressional authorization for six months and major concerns have been raised about the widespread misuse of these authorities. Together with allies from across the political spectrum, we sent a letter to House leadership urging them to not utilize an unconventional legislative vehicle for the extension of these authorities that would bar adequate consideration of these controversial and important issues.
DPI Continues Efforts to Confirm Federal Agencies are Complying with Federal Surveillance Law
August 5, 2020–Due Process Institute and a bipartisan coalition of 10 groups called on Congressional leadership to utilize oversight of federal agencies to ensure they are not conducting illegal surveillance of people in the United States through questionable legal authorities. Several provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have been expired since March but some Executive and Congressional leaders have alleged that authorization of these provisions is not required for federal agencies to conduct mass surveillance of American citizens.
This request follows a letter sent by the Due Process Institute in May requesting transparency and a recent letter sent by Senators Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee.
Congressional Leaders Join DPI in Requesting Vital Information About Surveillance Programs
July 21, 2020–Senators Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee sent a letter to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence requesting that they confirm the termination of certain federal surveillance programs that Congress has failed to reauthorize and provide detailed explanations for the continuation of similar activities under other questionable legal authorities.
These requests mirror those included in a letter Due Process Institute, Defending Rights & Dissent, Demand Progress, and FreedomWorks urging that Congress receive similar information before reauthorizing key provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
We Urge YES Vote on H.R. 6172 to Restore Constitutional Safeguards
May 27, 2020–Due Process Institute supports the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act (H.R. 6172). We urge a YES vote in support of long overdue reform of FISA surveillance, regardless of whether additional reform amendments are successful.
Two weeks ago, the Senate successfully passed the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act (previously passed by the House) with the addition of one important bipartisan amendment improving third-party oversight and input into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court process. The legislation the Senate passed—which does not include every reform that is necessary to address all of our concerns with FISA surveillance in the United States—still represents a major improvement over current law.
USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act Highlights
The House has an opportunity to further protect our Fourth Amendment rights by adopting additional reform amendments before passing the underlying legislation. These amendments would ensure the reasonable Constitutional safeguard of a warrant is met before the government can search through our personal information—an extraordinary power that our Founding Generation understood could be abused. But regardless of the success of such amendments, we urge a YES vote on the meaningful improvements contained in H.R. 6172.
Please watch our explainer video for more on the importance of reforming FISA.
80+ Organizations Join in Calling for Protection of Fourth Amendment
May 18, 2020–Due Process Institute joined a bipartisan coalition in urging Congressional leadership in the House to adopt an amendment that failed by one vote in the Senate to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This amendment would ensure that federal agencies secure a warrant to obtain internet search and browsing history, thus honoring the Constitutional guarantee of the Fourth Amendment.
We Are Encouraged By Bipartisan Senate Collaboration to Reform Mass Surveillance of Americans
May 14, 2020–Due Process Institute releases statement praising the Senate for passing reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that will protect due process rights.
“The USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act could have been significantly improved by the inclusion of a bipartisan amendment from Senators Wyden and Daines that would have protected Americans’ private internet histories from warrantless government surveillance, but the version that the Senate has passed is still a significant improvement over the current laws that undermine due process rights,” said Shana-Tara O’Toole, Founder and President of Due Process Institute. “We are encouraged that Senate leaders crossed their respective political aisles to work together on important reforms that begin to better protect constitutional rights and still allow our government to do the important work of maintaining national security. We urge the House to promptly pass this legislation to ensure that America’s surveillance laws are brought more in line with vital protections guaranteed in our Constitution.”
DPI Urges Senators to Approve Amendments That Will Protect the Freedoms of All Americans
May 11, 2020–Due Process Institute joined a coalition of more than 35 organizations calling for the U.S. Senate to protect their constituents’ freedoms by adopting three vital amendments to the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act. These amendments will help end the warrantless surveillance of the American people currently empowered by questionable interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by federal agencies.
DPI Requests Federal Agencies Confirm Compliance with Expiration of Authority to Surveil Americans
May 6, 2020–Due Process Institute joined Defending Rights & Dissent, Demand Progress, and FreedomWorks to request that the Department of Justice and Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirm all relevant federal agencies have ended their surveillance activities under expired provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We also request that relevant agencies confirm they are not improperly using the remaining limited exceptions to continue activities that infringe upon the constitutional rights of all Americans.
On May 7th, 2020, this same coalition formally requested assistance with this request from leadership in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
DPI Calls for Senate to Critically Consider Surveillance Reforms
March 16, 2020–“By allowing the significant federal surveillance programs authorized by Section 215 to expire in an effort to hastily advance the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act without appropriate consideration, Senate leadership shows that it is willing to gamble with both our national security and constitutional rights to appease federal agencies,” said Shana-Tara O’Toole, President of Due Process Institute. “Congress has had months to craft vital bipartisan reforms that would ensure these programs continue with important safeguards. We ask Senators to oppose cloture and support the 45-day extension so Congress can intentionally and thoughtfully craft positive reforms that will protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and ensure that our surveillance community does not utilize our constitutional protections as a justification to violate our privacy rights.”
To learn more about these reforms, see our recent blog post.
DPI Urges Sun-setting and/or Reforms to FISA Section 702
October 17, 2019–Due Process Institute is part of a bipartisan advocacy effort to convince Congress to curtail FISA Section 702 abuse by the FBI and others.
Civil Liberties Groups Tell Congress: End the Call Detail Records program
August 14, 2019–Due Process Institute has joined with dozens of other civil liberties organizations to urge the House Judiciary Committee to adopt important reforms to the re-authorization of Section 215. Chief among those reforms is the elimination of the Call Detail Records program. This program, run by the National Security Agency, was found to have illegally collected data on millions of Americans over a three year period.
DPI Joins 40 Other Groups Spanning Political Spectrum To Limit Warrantless Surveillance of Americans
June 13, 2019–Due Process Institute is urging Representatives to support the Amash-Lofgren amendment (Division C, amendment #24) to H.R. 2740, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2020. Why?
The Amash-Lofgren amendment seeks to thoughtfully limit the warrantless surveillance of Americans conducted pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.