Heads of the federal government's top intelligence agencies appeared unable or unwilling to reveal to the public just how much data is being collected on US citizens via Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Though the hearing was meant to focus on the FBI's alleged misuse of FISA to surveil prominent political figures, including an aide to Donald Trump, the event quickly expanded into a debate over the very existence of Section 702, a Bush-era surveillance tool intended to gather intelligence on foreign entities abroad set to expire later this year.
Others, like Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee approached talks of reforms more cautiously and repeatedly praised Section 702 for allegedly helping thwart domestic terror attacks.
What are FISA and Section 702? Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Intelligence Surveillance Act refers to a 2008 provision added to the landmark 1978 FISA legislation.
Unlike previous FISA restrictions, Section 702 no longer required a potential government surveillance target to be a spy or other agent of a foreign government.
Crucially, Section 702 compels US tech companies like Google and Meta as well as telecommunication companies to hand over communications of government surveillance targets.
Opposition to FISA makes unlikely political allies of progressive Dems and Trumpers Progressive lawmakers and left-leaning civil liberty groups have opposed Section 702 over fears agencies could abuse its powers to target political dissidents and marginalized communities, but the provision more recently earned the ire of Donald-Trump-stanning Republicans as well.
https://gizmodo.com/fbi-fisa-section-702-congress-hearing-surveillance-1850380106
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