FBI: Give us warrantless Section 702 snooping powers – or China wins

Never mind the court orders obtained to thwart Volt Typhoon botnet

Jessica Lyons 

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Drilling deeper, FISA Section 702 allows the FBI and its fellow federal organizations to monitor foreigners’ electronic communications beyond America’s borders. But if these emails, texts, and phone calls are with or about US persons, those individuals and organizations’ data can get pulled in as well for analysis, along with anyone those US persons also talked to. 

It’s a wide net, and this has led to extreme cases of misuse — especially from the FBI, which has used 702 powers to conduct warrantless surveillance on US citizens including protesters, political campaign donors, and elected officials including a US senator.

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Currently, there are four bills in Congress to reauthorize Section 702. But only two of them, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (aka the Protect Liberty Act) and the even broader-reaching Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023, include a warrant requirement.

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