Americans Wanted More Privacy Protections. Congress Gave Them Fewer.

OTI's Robyn Greene wrote for the Future Tense channel on Slate about Congress' decision to reauthorize FISA Section 702, and why this surveillance expansion may be especially threatening for immigrants, Muslims, and people of color:

Last week, Congress passed a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for six years. Section 702 is the surveillance law that authorizes the government to target foreigners located abroad to collect foreign intelligence information. However, we know that the government also sweeps up substantial quantities of Americans’ communications under Section 702. Despite the public’s calls for additional privacy protections, Congress passed the bill and called it a reform while hoping that no one would notice that it actually increases privacy risks. And you don’t have to be a criminal or a terrorist to be caught up in the government’s web. The law now authorizes several ways for the government to collect and use an average American’s communications.