In a late-night ballot on April 20, the U.S. Senate voted to reauthorize a controversial spying authority. President Joe Biden signed it into law the following day.
The authority in question, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), has come under increased scrutiny in recent years by privacy and civil liberty advocates in the wake of a series of abuses.
After rejecting a series of amendments designed to strengthen civil liberty protections—including an amendment by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to require a warrant to search Americans’ Section 702 data and another by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to prohibit federal law enforcement from purchasing Americans’ data from third-party brokers—the Senate reauthorized the program 45 minutes after it lapsed….
