American mass surveillance programs, such as those carried out by the NSA, have begun to change, as Wednesday the US House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a revision of the USA Freedom Act, Human Rights Watch reported Thursday.
The rewrite purposes to prohibit government bulk data collection of records, including phone and internet metadata. The data collection currently takes place under several US laws, such as Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows collection of all phone and other business records.
The rewrite includes many of the proposals suggested by President Barack Obama earlier this year. The revision aims to end the massive sweeping style of records collection, instead creating “specific selection terms” for collection.
The rewrite also places new reporting requirements on the government, provides a mechanism for emergency requests, and allows companies to report limited information about orders receives. The rewrite also creates an expert panel that will be able to intervene in FISA court in some instances.
The revised version of the Act is one step toward bulk data and telephone metadata collection reform, but Human Rights Watch says there is still work to be done. Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher at the organization, said, “The USA Freedom Act revision would help end one of the most problematic programs Edward Snowden revealed last year. However, the bill does not address needed reforms to surveillance programs that affect millions of people outside US borders.”
Also, several provisions that had been included in the earlier draft of the revision were removed or weakened, according to Human Rights Watch. A special advocate to represent the public’s interest in FISA trials is no longer included. In the earlier draft version, there was also a provision for challenging government gag orders, but it was removed.
A further criticism of the revision is that other laws and regulations, such as Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act and Executive Order 12333, also allow mass surveillance and bulk data collection, and these laws, which affect more people than the US Freedom Act and include actual content–not just metadata–are not affected by the current actions of the House.
Thursday, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is scheduled to review the US Freedom Act, and is expected to pass the revised Act without further modifications, after which the revision will move to Congress.
By James Haleaey
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