The Brennan Center for Justice joined more than 30 good government in letter to House Leadership this week urging key clarifications on a compromise surveillance reform bill. The bill, a version of the USA FREEDOM Act that was approved by two House committees earlier this month, makes significant progress in ending bulk collection, including the declassification of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) decisions, defining key terms that would limit bulk collection, and the authorization for private parties to issue public reports of surveillance orders they receive.
However, there are several critical clarifications the House Rules Committee needs to make before the bill heads to the House floor in order to achieve significant surveillance reform, including a clarifiaction that ensures Section 215 isn’t used to collect communications content and further reform of Section 702 of FISA.
Letter to House Leadership on USA FREEDOM Act Clarifications