Don't Spy on Me

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, has been work working to protect privacy for a long time. 

Today he posted this thread to BlueSky (all quoted between the lines).

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The NSA and FBI have been spying on you without a warrant using section 702 of FISA for decades. Trump wants Congress to renew the law. Here are concrete examples of how this law has been abused – across administrations – and why Congress shouldn't rubber-stamp it.

• In 2020 Trump used 702 to spy on Black Lives Matter protestors.
• In 2021, the Biden administration used 702 to search the communications of multiple government officials, journalists and political commentators.
• Also in 2021, the Biden administration used it to spy on 19,000 donors to a political campaign.
• In 2022, an NSA employee used the 702 database to stalk women he met on dating apps.
• In 2019, Trump used this law to spy on members of Congress.
• In 2022, the Biden administration used it to spy on a state court judge who reported police abuses to the FBI.

Those are the ways in which we KNOW this law has been abused. The takeaway here is that NO ONE’S personal information or communications are safe.

Here’s how I’m concerned the Trump administration could use it in the future if Congress reauthorizes it:

• In 2024, Congress expanded Section 702 to cover “illicit synthetic drugs.” I fear the Trump administration could target women living in states with abortion restrictions that get abortion medications from overseas providers.
• Stephen Miller is behind the Trump administration’s push to reauthorize 702. They have already designated “Antifa” organizations as foreign terrorist groups. It’s likely Miller will use 702 to surveil, target, and suppress activists on the left.
• Also in 2024, Congress expanded the range of who can be forced to comply with Section 702 surveillance orders. Your cable guy could be forced to install spyware on behalf of the government and help them surveil you.
• 702 abuses span across administrations and political spectrums. I’ve fought for reforms to Section 702 of FISA during every administration. This isn’t a red issue or a blue issue – it’s a civil liberties issue. Security and liberty aren’t mutually exclusive.

But rubber-stamping these powers for Donald Trump poses a unique and chilling threat to Americans’ most basic constitutional rights.

The deadline to renew the law is coming up next week. Trump needs both Republicans AND Democrats to vote to reauthorize this law. Anyone with a pulse ought to see that in no world should Trump and Kash Patel have these powers.

I’ll continue fighting like hell to sound the alarm and throw up roadblocks. But if the thought of the Trump administration having these powers scares you, now’s the time to make your voice heard.

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This is the spot where I say, Contact your U.S. senators to express your opinion on renewing Section 702 of FISA. It sounds like an obscure bunch of numbers and letters, but it's not.