The United States Senate approved, in the early hours of this Saturday (20), the continuation of a foreign surveillance program that puts fundamental rights of its own citizens, such as privacy, at risk.
Section 702, a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), is one of the White House's most important tools for spying on people abroad and is used by authorities mainly in “combating terrorism.”
The provision had already been approved by the Chamber last week, and now followed the same path in the Senate, in a vote of 60 to 34, after a long dispute between the project's supporters and an opposition that brought together progressive and conservative senators criticizing the broad spying powers that violate the civil liberties and privacy of Americans.
Despite demonstrations against it, the project passed and is now going to President Joe Biden's office, who is in favor of the action. The legislation extends Section 702 for another two years, when it must be voted on again in Congress.
One of the most controversial aspects of the project is that, during data collection involving foreign targets, American citizens may also have private messages affected. This raised concerns about data protection from the more conservative wing of the US House and Senate, which voted against the measure.
Section 702 also allows the National Security Agency to collect enormous amounts of electronic communications from U.S. technology providers such as Meta and AT&T and share intercepted conversations with other agencies such as the FBI.
#Senate #passes #law #puts #Americans39 #privacy #risk