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.