US government acting illegally over electronic surveillance of its own citizens, say senators

Two senators with notable expertise in intelligence matters say that the US government is acting illegally over electronic surveillance of its own citizens. They say the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has permitted intelligence agencies to continue warrantless interception of messages by US citizens despite failing to comply with the administration’s own privacy promise to allow public review of such rulings … The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was supposed to allow interception of communications by agents of foreign powers on US soil. It also put in place safeguards intended to ensure proper oversight. Controversially, however, it has also been used to intercept the communications of American citizens without a warrant under a clause known as Section 702. That latter power is supposed to be granted for 12 months at a time by FISC. Decisions to renew the authorization should be made public within 180 days. It was last renewed back in March, with a deadline for public review expiring on September 13th. As Wired reports, however, that has still not happened. Seven months ago, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court objected to search filters that let intelligence analysts pull Americans’ messages from intercepted data without the approvals, written justifications, or records the law requires. The court approved another year of surveillance anyway. The ruling has never been made public, and Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Adam Schiff of California say the administration’s own deadline for releasing it passed in September […] “If this administration won’t follow this simple statutory directive,” the senators told Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Attorney General Todd Blanche in a demand letter obtained exclusively by WIRED, “it is unclear why Congress or the American people should trust this administration to follow any of the other legal limits to Section 702.” The report also says that additional oversight through things like internal auditing within the FBI has been abandoned, and it’s no longer possible to track how many times search filters have been used to restrict electronic surveillance to US citizens. Wyden is the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Schiff formerly chaired the equivalent House committee. iPhone Duo cases Beats Woven USB-C cables Certified refurbished Apple products 15% off at apple.com Discounted AirPods Pro 3 Wireless CarPlay adapter 10-year AirTag battery case Logitech MX Master 4 for Mac Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.