(Cartoon from Bunnyherolabs)
From Wired (h/t Norwegianity)
Spy Chief Seeks to Expand Power
The new director of national intelligence is seeking to expand the government’s ability to conduct black bag searches, allow the National Security Agency to spy on foreigners inside the United States without a warrant, kill off lawsuits against telecoms for helping the government spy on American’s phone calls, and make it easier for the government to get phone and email records, even as the FBI remains mired in a scandal over its illegal and widespread use of a Patriot Act power, according to the Associated Press.
The draft bill being circulated by spy chief Mitch McConnell would, according to the AP:
- Give the NSA the power to monitor foreigners without seeking FISA court approval, even if the surveillance is conducted by tapping phones and e-mail accounts in the United States.[…]
- Clarify the standards the FBI and NSA must use to get court orders for basic information about calls and e-mails — such as the number dialed, e-mail address, or time and date of the communications. Civil liberties advocates contend the change will make it too easy for the government to access this information.
- Triple the life span of a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant for a non-U.S. citizen from 120 days to one year, allowing the government to monitor much longer without checking back in with a judge.
- Give telecommunications companies immunity from civil liability for their cooperation with Bush’s terrorist surveillance program. Pending lawsuits against companies including Verizon and AT&T allege they violated privacy laws by giving phone records to the NSA for the program.
- Extend from 72 hours to one week the amount of time the government can conduct surveillance without a court order in emergencies.
The bill would be yet another attempt to update FISA, a bill that seems to always be not up to the task. It was last updated in 2005. Shortly thereafter, the government’s warrantless wiretapping program and a related program in which phone companies dumped their phone call databases to the NSA were revealed, giving lie to campaign assurances from President Bush that all wiretaps had court approval.
The provision to include what can only be retroactive immunity for telcos is very interesting in that this provision has been widely rumored in many bills floating around Congress, but has never been inserted in a publicly introduced bill. It’s evidence that the telcos remain afraid that they could be found liable for billions of dollars in fines if a court finds they indeed helped the government spy on Americans without requiring valid legal process.
McConnell is going to have a tough road ahead of him, given the bill needs the blessing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which these days is talking about rolling back Patriot Act powers, not increasing them.
