Today CDT is participating in ‘The Day We Fight Back,’ a national effort to bring awareness to and encourage reform of overbroad NSA surveillance activities. Over the past year we’ve learned an enormous amount about NSA activities. Through its interpretation of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the NSA has been engaging in bulk collection of tens of millions of Americans’ phone records. The NSA also gathers communications of and about over 117,000 foreign intelligence targets without any court approval, and appears to be tapping into the Internet backbone to do so. Finally, relying on Executive Order 12333, the NSA has been engaging in global bulk collection of social networking information, location data, and text messages.
There has already been a strong response to these and other revelations. The President’s Review Group and Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board each issued reports calling for a range of reforms, including an end to the NSA bulk collection program. In Congress, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) have introduced the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act, which would end bulk collection of Americans’ records and enact many other important reforms.
However, continued action is needed. We need to strengthen support for the USA FREEDOM Act and oppose measures that would codify existing surveillance practices into law, such as Senator Feinstein’s bill. Today, we encourage you to contact your representatives in Congress to tell them how important this issue is to you.
