Congress is currently embroiled in a heated debate about the US government’s ability to spy on its own citizens. And as this battle develops, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s fiercest adversaries on Capitol Hill are not simply reformers merely looking to curtail its power. The recent election has given a number of legislators greater power, and they are now attempting to significantly limit how the FBI investigates crimes.
At a critical juncture for the US intelligence community, new information on the FBI’s violations of limitations on the use of foreign intelligence for domestic offences has come to light. The government is allowed to intercept the electronic communications of foreign targets who are not covered by the Fourth Amendment under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the so-called crown jewel of US intelligence.
At the end of the year, that authorization will expire. However, mistakes in the FBI’s secondary use of the data—the investigation of crimes committed on US soil—are expected to fuel an already ferocious discussion about whether law enforcement officials can be trusted with such an invasive instrument.
This article has been indexed from CySecurity News – Latest Information Security and Hacking Incidents
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