WASHINGTON D.C. —­­ Today, TechFreedom joined a coalition of privacy and civil liberties organizations in urging Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to disclose information on the impact that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has had inside the U.S. The letter states:

Information about that impact is critical in light of official representations that Section 702 is aimed at foreign threats and that collection of Americans’ information is merely “incidental.” The American public must have the data necessary to evaluate and weigh these official claims. Moreover, it is unacceptable that the government itself has no idea how many Americans are caught up in an intelligence program ostensibly targeted at foreigners.

The letter requests that Clapper disclose an estimate of the number of communications involving U.S. residents that are subject to surveillance, the number of times the FBI has used U.S. person identifiers to query Section 702 data, and the policies governing how agencies notify individuals that they intend to use information derived from Section 702 surveillance.

“Understanding the impact that Section 702 surveillance has on Americans is crucial to informed public debate,” said Tom Struble, Policy Counsel for TechFreedom. “With the FISA Amendments Act set to expire at the end of 2017, this information is key to evaluating the decisions Congress will finally have to make about reforming over-broad surveillance.”

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We can be reached for comment at media@techfreedom.org. See more of our work on privacy and surveillance, including:

  • Our statement on the Judicial Redress Act, a bill that would extend data protection rights within the U.S. to citizens of certain other countries.

 

  • Coalition letters calling for an end to surveillance under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act

 

  • Our statement on the European Court of Justice’s decision to strike down the Safe Harbor agreement that allowed American companies to use data provided by European users.

 

About TechFreedom:

TechFreedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.

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