CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. You can find Tech Talk on SoundCloud and on iTunes.
It’s been awhile since we’ve talked US government surveillance reform on Tech Talk. That’s partially because there was an actual legislative win on this front when the USA FREEDOM Act passed just over a year ago. That bill essentially ended the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ communications records.
The timing of the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act had a fair amount to do with the imminent expiration of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, under which the bulk collection was being conducted.
Well there is another expiring section upon us that is helping advance discussion around the need for greater government surveillance reforms. This one is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA.
CDT’s Greg Nojeim and Jadzia Butler joined me to talk about Section 702 reform, including what Section 702 authorizes, the specific parts of it that should be reformed, and gave thoughts on the political appetite for reform.
In a climate where surveillance reforms may be tough to come by, Greg and Jadzia do a fantastic job of making the case for very specific reforms to Section 702.
