fisa 2012

FISA 2012, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2012, is a member in a group of surveillance laws that aims to deliver more power over the internet to the government. FISA received attention in 2008 when it was expanded to grant the NSA warrentless wiretapping authority under the Bush Administration, which has been continued and seeks to expand under the obama administration.  The ACLU has estimated that the NSA, under the authority of FISA 2012, intercepts 1.7 billion calls, emails, texts, or other forms of communication per day in America. It is also understood that under FISA, warrentless wiretaps have been conducted on Judges, politicians, journalists and not just everday citizens.  FISA 2012 was in Congressional hearing today, where EFF and others covered live: Why can’t we know how many people are affected by FISA amendment act in the US? This kind of vagueness creates suspicions,” the EFF quotes Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). Even before Thursday’s hearing, however, Rep. Conyers has adamantly opposed a FISA renewal. [Source] According to Wired, lawmakers spent the day arguing merely about increasing accountability and transparency with FISA. From the various reviews I’ve read, I’ve noticed that there were few, if any, arguments on the Constitutional basis [...]