Warrantless Surveillance to Include Web Browsing History of Any American
Mitch McConnell & Republicans want to expand Warrantless Surveillance to Include Web Browsing History of any American
Mitch McConnell Wants To See Your Browser History
Democrat Ron Wyden Opposes Warrantless Government Surveillance of Americans’ Internet Browsing History
Mitch McConnell Moves to Expand Bill Barr’s Surveillance Powers
Days after the Justice Department controversially dropped charges against Mike Flynn, Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to expand a highly politicized Justice Department’s surveillance authority during a vote this week to renew the 2001 PATRIOT Act.
Per the above article; Under cover of redressing what President Donald Trump and his allies call the FBI’s “witch hunt” over collusion with the Kremlin, McConnell, via an amendment to the PATRIOT Act, will expressly permit the FBI to warrantlessly collect records on Americans’ web browsing and search histories. In a different amendment, McConnell also proposes giving the attorney general visibility into the “accuracy and completeness” of FBI surveillance submissions to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court. Versions of the amendments circulating Monday were shared with The Daily Beast.
“Under the McConnell amendment, Barr gets to look through the web browsing history of any American—including journalists, politicians, and political rivals—without a warrant, just by saying it is relevant to an investigation,” said Wyden, who has been trying to ban warrantless surveillance on such records.
McConnell’s amendment blocks the FBI from seeking the “content” of web browsing and searching conducted by Americans. But it explicitly permits the warrantless collection of “Internet website browsing records or internet search history records.” Barr and other attorneys general approve guidelines for conducting such surveillance.
These are the 37 Senators that voted to let the FBI seize your internet history without a warrant
A key amendment to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020 (H.R. 6172) that would have required authorities to obtain a warrant before gaining access to American internet browsing and search history just failed on the Senate floor by a single vote. For those that are unaware, key parts of the Patriot Act – namely …
Per the above article;
These are the 37 Senators that voted to let the FBI seize your internet history without a warrant
27 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted against the amendment and 4 senators were no-shows. One of the senators that didn’t vote is under self quarantine due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19. But where were the other 3 senators? Here’s who voted against the Wyden-Daines Amendment to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020 that would have blocked McConnell’s plan to let FBI collect web browsing history without a warrant:
Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE)
Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Hassan, Margaret Wood (D-NH)
Jones, Doug (D-AL)
Kaine, Tim (D-VA)
Manchin, Joe, III (D-WV)
Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH)
Warner, Mark R. (D-VA)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
Barrasso, John (R-WY)
Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN)
Blunt, Roy (R-MO)
Boozman, John (R-AR)
Burr, Richard (R-NC)
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)
Collins, Susan M. (R-ME)
Cornyn, John (R-TX)
Cotton, Tom (R-AR)
Fischer, Deb (R-NE)
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC)
Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS)
Inhofe, James M. (R-OK)
Johnson, Ron (R-WI)
Lankford, James (R-OK)
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY)
Perdue, David (R-GA)
Portman, Rob (R-OH)
Roberts, Pat (R-KS)
Romney, Mitt (R-UT)
Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL)
Thune, John (R-SD)
Tillis, Thom (R-NC)
Toomey, Patrick J. (R-PA)
Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)
Young, Todd (R-IN)
Contact your elected officials and tell them not to vote for the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020
While this amendment has failed, the bill it was a part of still hasn’t the House of Representatives. There’s still time to contact your elected officials and tell them not to vote for the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020 in its current form with Mitch McConnell’s privacy violating amendment in tow. The FBI and DOJ should not have access to the search and internet history of American citizens without a warrant, but that’s exactly what Congress is set to pass unless Americans step up and make their voices heard.
Fact check: Did senators vote to allow access to web history? Only for counterterrorism
A viral Facebook post says Americans missed a big moment in privacy rights. Some provisions of the 2001 Patriot Act – which greatly expanded government intelligence gathering in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – expired this year amid GOP gridlock. The legislation has drawn criticism over the breadth of surveillance it enables.
Per the above article: “37 senators voted for federal agencies to have access to your internet history without obtaining a warrant.”
A viral Facebook post says Americans missed a big moment in privacy rights.
Some provisions of the 2001 Patriot Act – which greatly expanded government intelligence gathering in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – expired this year amid GOP gridlock.
The legislation has drawn criticism over the breadth of surveillance it enables.
The U.S. House reauthorized the three lapsed intelligence programs this March, and the U.S. Senate passed its own version May 14, making changes that sent the bill back to the House. Before final passage, though, the Senate by the narrowest of margins defeated an amendment that would have limited access to internet browser and search histories.
The background
The statement implies this was a vote to enable internet history access without a warrant. The government has actually been able to do that for nearly 20 years.
That was among many powers granted by the 2001 Patriot Act. Section 215 can be used to compel third parties (such as internet service providers) to produce information related to intelligence investigations (not law enforcement investigations).
This has long been considered compatible with the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, since the Supreme Court has said since the 1970s that protection does not apply to records held by third parties, according to Robert Chesney, director of the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He noted this interpretation is now “under pressure,” but still in place.
Section 215 allows government investigators to obtain internet browsing history or search queries, but there are limitations, Chesney said.
For an American, the power may be used only to obtain web history related to a counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation. (For a foreign national, any foreign-intelligence purpose can justify access to online history.)
The request must be approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, made up of 11 federal judges from around the country. The court was established by Congress through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to approve electronic surveillance, physical search and certain other forms of investigative actions for foreign intelligence purposes.
