thenexusofprivacy

Congress’s push to protect kids online is at a crossroads (KOSA, US-focused) (www.washingtonpost.com)

Legislators are considering attaching KOSA (the anti-LGBTQ+ censorship bill, aka the Kids Online Safety Act) to must-pass legislation authorizing the FAA. As EFF points out, the latest version of KOSA is still a censorship bill....

Down to the “deadline”: FISA Section 702 Expansion / Reauthorization (getfisaright.net)

US Senate to Vote on a Wiretap Bill That Critics Call ‘Stasi-Like’ (www.wired.com)

if you’re in the US, now’s a great time to contact your Senators. You can either call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or use the Senate directory to look up your legislators’ contact info....

How The Surveillance Bill Could Help Trump Crack Down on the Media (US, FISA Section 702) (www.rollingstone.com)

I’m not wild about the headline – it’s the Biden administration that’s pushing for this bill, so why let them off the hook? It’s one of those rare issues that cut across partisan lines, with reformers and surveillance hawks in both parties working together. Still, the article makes some very good points....

U.S. House Vote Narrowly Allows Rampant Abuses of Warrantless Spying Authority to Continue (US focused) (cdt.org)

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/15271710...

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

The FBI routinely uses its authority under FISA Section 702 to get information on Americans without a warrant, ignoring the processes that are supposed to be put in place to protect people. This has nothing to do with the FISA Title III authority that was used to get information about Carter Page, no matter what you and Trump think. If you warrantless surveillance of Americans is good, then by all means you should indeed be cheering this vote – because they extended the scope of what information they can get at without a warrant.

If on the other hand you think civil liberties are worth protecting, then you might take a moment to stop to think that there was bipartisan support, including progressive Democrats, for introducing reforms like a warrant requirement while still keeping the ability to surveil foreign agents in place. But opinions differ, there are plenty of people in both parties who don’t think civil liberties are worth protecting, so if you’re one of them you’ve got a lot of company.

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

From the article:

FISA 702 warrantless surveillance purports to target only foreign subjects, but in practice sweeps in a huge amount of Americans’ communications. This allows intelligence agencies to exploit a backdoor search loophole: the FBI, CIA, and NSA conduct “U.S. person queries” of FISA 702 records to deliberately pull up Americans’ private messages, all without a warrant or any court approval. This loophole has led to systemic abuse, involving thousands of improper queries each year, including those directed at protesters, campaign donors, journalists, lawmakers, and — in one case — the online dating matches of an analyst.

Bad Amendments to Section 702 Have Failed (For Now)—What Happens Next? (US-focused, FISA) (www.eff.org)

EFF’s update also has a handy form to contact Congress. Their summary:...

Trump Loyalists Kill Vote on US Wiretap Program (www.wired.com)

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/15183880...

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

They did – FISA shouldn’t be extended without reforms. All the scare tactics about how “oh noes national security is at risk if FISA isn’t extended!!!” are garbage; if Section 702 lapses, existing certifications are already approved for the next year, and the government has other authorities it can do the same kind of surveillance with.

As Howie Klein says on Down With Tyranny FISA Was Always Bad Legislation… It’s Still Bad Even If Trump And MAGA Suddenly Oppose It Too

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

Yeah, all the scare tactics about how “oh noes national security is at risk if FISA isn’t extended!!!” are garbage; if Section 702 lapses, existing certifications are already approved for the next year, and the government has other authorities it can do the same kind of surveillance with. And the surveillance he’s complaining about wasn’t even under this section of FISA – it’s the Title III stuff which doesn’t need to be reauthorized!

As Howie Klein says on Down With Tyranny FISA Was Always Bad Legislation… It’s Still Bad Even If Trump And MAGA Suddenly Oppose It Too

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

Perhaps so, but as Howie Klein says on Down With Tyranny FISA Was Always Bad Legislation… It’s Still Bad Even If Trump And MAGA Suddenly Oppose It Too

Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing: A Planned Amendment to This Week’s Vote Would Be the Largest Expansion of FISA in Over 15 Years (US-focused) (cdt.org)

That’s not good....

thenexusofprivacy, 1 month ago

Back in December, they tried to get an even WORSE FISA extension bill through as part of the NDAA – without even a vote on it – and the pushback was strong enough that they abandoned the plan. In 2020 grassroots activism kept them from rauthorizing Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act . In 2015 grassroots activism kept them from doing a straight reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. So there really is a track record of it being effective on this issue.

The key dynamic here is that both parties are split on the issue – progressive Dems along with Libertarian and MAGA Republicans all favor reform. So even representatives in a district that one party always wins have to consider the politics: Republicans wanting to keep their MAGA cred against MAGA challengers, Democrats facing progressive challengers (or progressive Dems who need strong support from their base against centrist challengers). Plus there are a handful of centrist Dems in purple districts who might vote the right way if it can pick up some Republican votes.

The Kids Online Safety Act and the State of Tech Policy (www.lawfaremedia.org)

A long analysis by Quinta Jurecic...

FISA Reauthorization:" US Lawmaker Cited NYC Protests in a Defense of Warrantless Spying (www.wired.com)

At a private meeting about the reauthorization of a major United States surveillance program late last year, the Republican chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee presented an image of Americans protesting the war in Gaza while implying possible ties between the protesters and Hamas, an allegation that was used to...

Biden goes to court to renew warrantless surveillance law (www.theregister.com)