Amie Stepanovich writes:
Today, Access joined a coalition of dozens of civil society organizations, trade associations, and companies demanding an end to bulk surveillance activities conducted by the government under provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act.
On June 1, 2015, certain surveillance laws are scheduled to expire unless they are explicitly reauthorized by Congress. The letter makes it clear that these authorities cannot be renewed without strong, meaningful reform to prevent overbroad government collection of user data:
Together, we agree that the following elements are essential to any legislative or Administration effort to reform our nation’s surveillance laws:
- There must be a clear, strong, and effective end to bulk collection practices under the USA PATRIOT Act, including under the Section 215 records authority and the Section 214 authority regarding pen registers and trap & trace devices. Any collection that does occur under those authorities should have appropriate safeguards in place to protect privacy and users’ rights.
- The bill must contain transparency and accountability mechanisms in place for both government and company reporting, as well as an appropriate declassification regime for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court decisions.
Read more on Access.