(WASHINGTON) — The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) welcomes today’s broad bipartisan 35-2 vote by the House Judiciary Committee to advance the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (H.R. 6570). This bill would close the “backdoor search loophole” in FISA 702 by establishing a carefully designed warrant rule for U.S. person queries, which have been repeatedly misused to seek out Americans’ communications.
Jake Laperruque, Deputy Director of CDT’s Security and Surveillance Project, said:
“This bill is the strongest surveillance reform passed out of Committee since the original FISA bill 45 years ago. We applaud the House Judiciary Committee for passing the Protect Liberty Act by a resounding margin that shows broad, bipartisan support for this measure.
It will end the pervasive abuse of US person queries, which have been made against protesters, journalists, lawmakers, and campaign donors, among thousands of others. At the same time, it is meticulously designed to retain the security value of FISA 702, such as quickly allowing queries with consent to protect victims. We urge the House to promptly bring this bill to the floor and pass it.”
The Protect Liberty Act requires a warrant for all queries, a strong contrast to Intelligence Committee bills that prohibit less than one-thousandth-of-one-percent of warrantless queries, a “reform” in name only. The Protect Liberty Act’s warrant rule includes exceptions for emergencies, consent, and malware code.
In addition to establishing a warrant rule for queries, the bill:
- Closes the “data broker loophole” by including the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which stops law enforcement from buying data that should require a court order to obtain (see CDT’s Data For Dollars report for more information);
- Makes critical reforms to the FISA Court, including by incorporating Leahy-Lee amendment that would strengthen the role of amici; and
- Includes valuable new transparency and oversight rules.
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The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is the leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization fighting to advance civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age. We shape technology policy, governance, and design with a focus on equity and democratic values. Established in 1994, CDT has been a trusted advocate for digital rights since the earliest days of the internet. The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a Europe Office in Brussels, Belgium.