New Revelations Confirm Misuse of FISA to Spy on US Citizens
US civil rights activists have had their worst fears confirmed with new revelations about the misuse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the FBI. According to a decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the FBI illegally retrieved data from 19,000 financial supporters of a congressional campaign and 133 demonstrators who took to the streets in 2020 after the police killing of black George Floyd.
FISA Allows Security Agencies to Receive Emails Without Special Judicial Approval
The relevant section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows US security agencies such as the NSA and the FBI to receive emails from national companies, government agencies, and institutions such as telecommunications providers or libraries and request other data from their customers without special judicial approval.
FBI Abuses Law by Searching For People Listed in Police Murder Reports
According to the FISC decision that was recently published, the US police agency regularly conducted FISA searches for people “who are listed in police murder reports.” The Department of Justice found that these data analyses violated the rules “because there was no reasonable basis for believing that they contained foreign intelligence information or evidence of a crime.”
FBI Conducts 23,132 Separate Queries Against Suspected US Citizens
After the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, an FBI agent conducted a series of investigations that totaled 23,132 separate queries against suspected US citizens. While the FBI found evidence of possible foreign influence,” there were no suspicions of outside instigation.
Reform of the Powers of Security Agencies Urgently Needed
US civil rights organizations are calling for a comprehensive reform that will significantly limit the powers of the security authorities. The clause expires at the end of the year if Congress does not extend it. Reforming the powers of security agencies has become an urgent issue after repeated breaches of the privacy of US citizens by the FBI and other agencies.
