Steps are being made to dismantle the mass surveillance infrastructure built in the “war on terror” era.
UPDATE: Congress passed the USA Freedom Act on June 2. It was passed without any amendments that would further weaken its civil liberties protections.
Last night at midnight, the sun went down on the Patriot Act. The most controversial provision – section 215 – expired. This section has been interpreted by the government to allow bulk, mass collection of Americans’ phone records. Read more about Section 215 here. But now that law is gone. So, what happens now?
The first thing privacy advocates should do is celebrate. This is an enormous win, and symbolically begins the process of dismantling the mass surveillance infrastructure that has been built in the “war on terror” era.
Second, let’s watch to see what the Senate does in the next couple of days. A straight renewal of the Patriot Act is no longer possible – there isn’t enough support for that. Instead, they will debate a compromise bill known as the USA Freedom Act. This bill would end government bulk collection of phone records, and would instead require telecom companies to collect the data. It would also put in place limited civil liberties protections. FCNL believes this bill is not good enough, but the good news is that sunset of the Patriot Act has put the negotiating momentum in our favor. The compromise bill is now the only vehicle available for lawmakers who want to renew the expired Patriot Act provisions, so our challenge now is to make it as strong as possible.
Third, we have to recognize that this work has only begun. A sunset of part of the Patriot Act, whether or not it is partially renewed by a compromise bill in the next few days, is not enough to turn back the tide on mass surveillance. There are more legal authorities that go beyond collecting phone records, such as laws that allow the government to collect the content of emails and to engage in warrantless wiretapping. Read more about our efforts on mass surveillance here.
No matter what happens this week, we will be working diligently to advocate for stronger surveillance reform. But for now, we are celebrating the fact that government phone record collection is a thing of the past.
