A bipartisan group of House members are preparing to introduce measures widely supported by their colleagues that would rein in NSA domestic surveillance and protect encryption. But achange in procedure adopted by the House leadership may deny the House a chance to even consider their proposal.
Based on their successful amendments to the House Defense Appropriations bill two years ago, Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Ted Poe (R-TX) aim to reintroduce measures backed by civil liberties organizations and activists as amendments to the Defense Appropriations bill currently moving through the House.
By prohibiting backdoor searches and preventing the NSA and CIA from undermining encryption devices and standards, their proposals would represent a significant step forward in the ongoing battle to secure privacy and security in the face of ongoing unconstitutional surveillance documented in 2013 by Edward Snowden.
Stopping Backdoor Searches
The first measure would prohibit government funds from being spent to perform warrantless backdoor searches. Backdoor searches are when the government searches its database of intercepted online traffic for the communications of specific Americans—without a warrant, prior court authorization, or any external restriction.
Even policymakers can be targets of warrantless backdoor searches. For instance, members of Congress who exchange emails discussing a controversial foreign policy issue—say, for example, the nuclear anti-proliferation agreement with Iran—are likely to be included as NSA programs collect related communications. The same is true for any constituents who discuss foreign policy issues, either with their representatives or among themselves. Once one agency (often NSA) collects those communications to include in a government database, other agencies (such as the FBI) are able to search those communications without any restriction.
Based on their successful amendments to the House Defense Appropriations bill two years ago, Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Ted Poe (R-TX) aim to reintroduce measures backed by civil liberties organizations and activists as amendments to the Defense Appropriations bill currently moving through the House.
By prohibiting backdoor searches and preventing the NSA and CIA from undermining encryption devices and standards, their proposals would represent a significant step forward in the ongoing battle to secure privacy and security in the face of ongoing unconstitutional surveillance documented in 2013 by Edward Snowden.
Stopping Backdoor Searches
The first measure would prohibit government funds from being spent to perform warrantless backdoor searches. Backdoor searches are when the government searches its database of intercepted online traffic for the communications of specific Americans—without a warrant, prior court authorization, or any external restriction.
Even policymakers can be targets of warrantless backdoor searches. For instance, members of Congress who exchange emails discussing a controversial foreign policy issue—say, for example, the nuclear anti-proliferation agreement with Iran—are likely to be included as NSA programs collect related communications. The same is true for any constituents who discuss foreign policy issues, either with their representatives or among themselves. Once one agency (often NSA) collects those communications to include in a government database, other agencies (such as the FBI) are able to search those communications without any restriction.
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