FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act Would Curtail Surveillance, Increase Transparency
Unlike the knee-jerk “defund it!” of the Amash amendment, this new bill contains some meaty pro-transparency provisions:
As part of a bipartisan push to reform surveillance laws, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has introduced the FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act of 2013. The bill aims to bring more judicial oversight, public accountability, and transparency to the secret surveillance powers used by the NSA and FBI, focusing specifically on controversial sections of the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill is co-sponsored by nine senators, including several outspoken critics of current spy laws, like Mark Udall, D-Colo., Ron Wyden D-Ore., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Mike Lee, R-Utah.
The bill would, among other things:
- Narrow the scope of the section 215 of the Patriot Act, the law used by the NSA to gather millions of Americans' phone records on a daily basis. Under Leahy's bill, to obtain the data the government would first have to produce a statement of facts showing that it is relevant to an authorized investigation and that there is a link to a foreign group or power.
- Allow for judicial review of "gag order" provisions of the Patriot Act that can stop a recipient from challenging a nondisclosure order until one year has passed.
- Bring forward the sunset clause of the recently renewed FISA Amendments Act by more than two years, to June 2015, enabling a sooner "re-examination" of the controversial spy law.
- Require the inspector general of the intelligence community to conduct a comprehensive review of the FISA Amendments Act and its impact on the privacy rights of all Americans.
- Mandate the production of an unclassified report for the public that would review the impact of the government's secret surveillance powers on the privacy of Americans.
The overriding theme appears to be “more oversight, more transparency,” not just stomping feet while screaming “No!” over and over. I’m cautiously optimistic about Sen. Leahy’s proposal.
