Sen. Feinstein Calls For Section 702 Reforms, No 'Forever' Reauthorization

from the also-applying-for-an-advisory-position-at-the-EFF dept

I don't want to view this as a disingenuous move prompted by partisanship. I also don't want to view this as the belated realization that broad surveillance powers aren't exactly something you want to hand over to your political enemies. But, given the circumstances, it's hard to believe these statements by longtime surveillance statist Dianne Feinstein are anything but politically-motivated:

Lost in this week’s outcry over the latest presidential controversy was a very important hearing on the future of a key intelligence program: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This program, which involves the collection of the content of internet and phone communications of foreigners outside the United States, is a vital intelligence tool. Section 702 has been a valuable part of our counterterrorism efforts and I support its continuation, but I believe a sunset provision and key reforms should be considered.

This comes in response to (Republican) Senator Tom Cotton's legislative proposal to give Section 702 a clean re-auth FOREVER. Would this have been handled differently if someone more politically-aligned with Feinstein had proposed it? We can only speculate.

But that's not all Feinstein is proposing. She also wants to codify the NSA's voluntary shutdown of its "about" collection. As was noted here when the announcement was made, there's nothing stopping the NSA from deciding it wants to start incidentally collecting US persons communications on a mass scale, and I'm sure it has plenty of vague national security reasons for doing so. Amending the FISA Amendments Act before re-auth would hit the NSA with a federal "no backsies" stipulation that would ensure greater privacy protections for Americans' internet communications.

What's difficult to track down is any sort of Road to Damascus conversion point for Sen. Feinstein. Even dealing with the CIA's intrusiveness/abusiveness during the compiling of the Torture Report failed to cool her enthusiasm for maximum spying and minimal oversight. I'm happy to see someone who pulls this much IC weight calling for these reforms, but also suspicious these would not have materialized with Clinton in the Oval Office or the Democrats holding a majority in Congress.

But, we'll take what we can get. The downside is, of course, the current president's desire to push through a 702 re-auth with zero discussion and a hearty enthusiasm for any form of spying that isn't directed at him or his inner circle.

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Filed Under: dianne feinstein, nsa, section 702, surveillance