Privacy Groups Urge House Leadership To Support Oversight Amendment in Intelligence Authorization Act
A coalition of civil rights and privacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and TechFreedom, sent a letter to House leadership Monday in support of an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act co-sponsored by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and…
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Jim Himes, D-Conn., that would remove Section 306 from the proposed bill, a TechFreedom news release said. Section 306 “would allow executive agencies to withhold from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) any information related to covert action, which is defined in the National Security Act of 1947 as ‘any activity or activities of the United States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly,’” the release said. “PCLOB can’t be expected to do its job if executive agencies are given broad license to withhold key information,” said TechFreedom Policy Fellow Mark Potkewitz. “The Section 306 carve-out for ‘covert’ action is so broad that agencies could claim this exception to preclude PCLOB access to information on virtually anything -- including the intrusive surveillance programs that are in dire need of more oversight,” Potkewitz said. “Rep. Gabbard’s amendment is crucial for the continued oversight of surveillance programs.”