Report on the FISA Amendments Act of 2008

September 16, 2012

Report on the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (PDF)

Source: The Constitution Project

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 that allows the federal government to gather foreign intelligence by monitoring international phone calls and emails without individualized judicial review is threatening the rights of Americans, a new TCP report warns. The current law allows intelligence agencies to conduct broad programmatic surveillance, enabling officials to intercept Americans’ conversations without a warrant whenever they communicate with a foreign surveillance target, which threatens constitutionally-guaranteed rights.

The law is set to expire at the end of the year, and Congress is currently considering whether to extend it and for how long. The report recommends Congress amend the law to include: more robust judicial review of surveillance authorizations to ensure they are focused on foreign intelligence gathering; a requirement that the intelligence agencies obtain a warrant before searching the collected data for information on a specific U.S. citizen or anyone otherwise legally in the United States; and increased oversight and reporting of the intelligence community’s use of the law.

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Categories: government and politics, legal and law enforcement, national security, privacy and security
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