CDT Asks Senate to Reject FISA Reform Bills Proposed by Burr, Feinstein

Thursday. CDT encouraged the Senate to reject both pieces of legislation, which were introduced after the Senate was three votes shy of voting in favor of considering the USA Freedom Act. CDT wants the Senate to either pass USA Freedom or allow Section 215 of the Patriot Act to sunset. CDT called Burr’s self-described “compromise” draft legislation a “non-starter that makes government surveillance power and secrecy even more broad,” because it “would not end NSA bulk collection, does not address the problem of secret law, would impose a data retention requirement on private companies, and expands government surveillance without a court order,” CDT said. Feinstein’s legislation (S-1469) “would impose a data retention mandate on private companies, and does not address the problem of secret law,” CDT said. Feinstein’s bill also doesn't end bulk collection, as Section 107 of the bill “broadens the crucial definition of ‘specific selection term’ to allow terms that narrow the scope of records sought,” CDT said. The legislation also fails to address secret law because it doesn't “shed light on secret FISA Court opinions with significant implications for Americans’ civil liberties,” CDT said. “Secret law is incompatible with an open and democratic society,” CDT said. The legislation would also enable the FBI director to “obtain a secret court order demanding that service providers subject to surveillance orders retain all call detail records for two years,” CDT said. “In a letter of support for the USA Freedom Act, the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence stated that carriers’ existing metadata retention practices are sufficient for preserving essential security capabilities,” CDT said.