https://twitter.com/LizaGoitein/status/1734249938333167889 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 RED ALERT: Buried in the House intelligence committee’s Section 702 “reform” bill, which is schedule for a floor vote as soon as tomorrow, is the biggest expansion of surveillance inside the United States since the Patriot Act. 1/11
Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Through a seemingly innocuous change to the definition of “electronic service communications provider,” the bill vastly expands the universe of U.S. businesses that can be conscripted to aid the government in conducting surveillance. 2/11 33 1,665 45 6,237 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Under current law, the government can compel companies that have direct access to communications, such as phone, email, and text messaging service providers, to assist in Section 702 surveillance by turning over the communications of Section 702 targets. 3/11 12 1,215 24 5,071 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Under Section 504 of the House intelligence committee’s bill, any entity that has access to *equipment* on which communications may be transmitted or stored, such as an ordinary router, is fair game. What does that mean in practice? It’s simple… 4/11 19 1,263 32 5,009 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Hotels, libraries, coffee shops, and other places that offer wifi to their customers could be forced to serve as surrogate spies. They could be required to configure their systems to ensure that they can provide the government access to entire streams of communications. 5/11 66 2,166 140 6,505 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Even a repair person who comes to fix the wifi in your home would meet the revised definition: that person is an “employee” of a “service provider” who has “access” to “equipment” (your router) on which communications are transmitted. 6/11 18 1,286 26 4,980 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 The bill’s sponsors deny that Section 504 is intended to sweep so broadly. What *is* the provision intended to do, and how is the government planning to use it? Sorry, that’s classified. 7/11 13 1,115 33 5,100 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 At the end of the day, though, the government’s claimed intent matters little. What matters is what the provision, on its face, actually allows—because as we all know by now, the government will interpret and apply the law as broadly as it can get away with. 8/11 12 992 20 5,046 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 This isn’t a minor or theoretical concern. One of the FISA Court amici posted a blog to warn Americans about this provision. I can’t overstate how unusual it is for FISA Court amici to take to the airwaves in this manner. We’d be foolish to ignore it. 9/11 zwillgen.com/law-enforcement… House Intelligence Committee FISA “Reform” Bill Would Greatly Expand the Class of Businesses and... Yesterday the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence unanimously approved the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023 (FRRA), which would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intell... zwillgen.com 12 1,897 35 5,793 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 If you don't want to have to worry that the NSA is tapping into communications at the hotel where you're staying, tell your House representative to vote NO on the House intelligence bill this week. More on the many flaws with that bill here: 10/11 brennancenter.org/our-work/r… FISA "Reform" and Reauthorization Act: The Biggest Expansion in Government Surveillance Since the... A one-page document compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice and the Electronic Privacy Information Center that illustrates how the FISA "Reform" and Reauthorization Act is the biggest expansion in... brennancenter.org 40 2,011 80 5,512 Elizabeth Goitein @LizaGoitein 11 Dec 2023 Instead, they should vote for the Protect Liberty & End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee on a 35-2 vote that would reauthorize Sec. 702 with strong reforms to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. 11/11 judiciary.house.gov/media/pr… House Judiciary Committee Applauds Bipartisan Passage of H.R. 6570, the Protect Liberty and End... WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Chairman Andy Biggs... judiciary.house.gov 116 1,902 62 6,390