The Patriot Act (the “Act”) was hastily passed in 2001, 45 days after 9/11. The Act was publicly marketed as a way for the government to catch terrorists, however, the Act actually turned regular U.S. citizens into suspects by expanding authority to monitor phone and email communications, collect bank and credit information, and track American citizens activity on the internet. Although the Act expired in March, 2020 without being reauthorized, federal law enforcement agencies retain most of the authorities granted by the act.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorizes the government to collect, store, and access vast quantities of communications between Americans and foreign contacts. These communications can be retained for years and, most alarmingly, can be accessed by law enforcement without judicial oversight. This means that the private conversations of Americans, under the guise of collecting foreign intelligence, are stored and potentially scrutinized without their consent or a warrant. What is most concerning is the lack of checks and balances for overreach and abuse.
The FBI, and any government authority, should be required to have valid warrant signed by a judicial magistrate for any unreasonable search and seizure of information from U.S. citizens without probable cause under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
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