Tell Congress: no more warrantless backdoors for the FBI!

Congress

Right before the August recess, Congress might finally slam the FBI’s warrantless backdoor in their faces. Currently, under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the FBI and NSA collect troves of Americans’ private information and communications without any oversight.

A bipartisan coalition of US Representatives is pushing an amendment to close this back door as a part of a budget bill that is set to pass the House before the August recess—and your Representatives need to hear from you right now to make sure that it is included. The amendment would halt this unconstitutional spying by literally taking away all the money used to warrantlessly search people’s data and communications in the US, acquired under Section 702.

Recently released opinions by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) underscore why the government must require warrants to protect the privacy of those whose communications are “incidentally” collected. A quote from an FISC opinion even states: “It should be unnecessary to state that government officials are not free to decide for themselves whether or to what extent they should comply with court orders.” But despite being told to get court orders, the FBI has literally never complied, violating the Fourth Amendment rights of people in the US on a number of occasions. They are spying on people’s private information and communications even when they have no reason to believe they will find evidence of a crime or foreign intelligence.

Tell Congress: protect our Fourth Amendment rights and pass the Lofgren-Massie amendment!

Letter text:

Representatives,

The Fourth Amendment clearly establishes our right to privacy, meaning government agencies like the NSA and the FBI should not be able to get into our private information without first having probable cause and a court-ordered warrant. But these agencies use Section 702 to do exactly that. By tapping Internet cables, undermining security standards, and getting our data from companies in secret, the FBI is turning the world’s largest surveillance apparatus in history against Americans. This must stop. We urge you to pass the Lofgren-Massie amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill (HR 4505) immediately.

Sponsored by

To: Congress
From: [Your Name]

Representatives,

The Fourth Amendment clearly establishes our right to privacy, meaning government agencies like the NSA and the FBI should not be able to get into our private information without first having probable cause and a court-ordered warrant. But these agencies use Section 702 to do exactly that. By tapping Internet cables, undermining security standards, and getting our data from companies in secret, the FBI is turning the world’s largest surveillance apparatus in history against Americans. This must stop. We urge you to pass the Lofgren-Massie amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill (HR 4505) immediately.