US Surveillance Program Expanded to Include Data Centers
The United States has expanded its surveillance program, allowing agencies to intercept and store Americans’ text messages, calls, and emails in pursuit of foreign intelligence. This controversial program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), has been extended for two years and enhanced to include a wider range of businesses, including data centers.
Section 702 allows the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to eavesdrop on communications traveling through US networks, as long as one side of the communication is foreign. Americans caught up in the program face diminished privacy rights, and the government reserves the right to store their communications and access them later without probable cause.
The program has been the subject of criticism due to revelations of abuse by the FBI, including unlawfully scouring data for information on American protesters, journalists, and political donors. The FBI has instituted new procedures to prevent further misuse, but civil libertarians argue that the FBI should not be trusted to oversee itself.
Despite concerns from civil liberties groups, the program has been extended and expanded at the urging of US intelligence agencies and with the help of powerful bipartisan allies on Capitol Hill. The bill was signed by President Biden on Saturday, bringing an end to a months-long fight in Congress.
