Coalition presses to change surveillance law

A coalition of nearly 40 privacy and civil liberties groups is demanding changes when lawmakers weigh whether to renew Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows for the collection of information about US phone calls and text messages. The provision, and two others that were reauthorized in the 2015 USA Freedom Act following the leaks by former federal contractor Edward Snowden, are slated to expire on Dec. 15 unless lawmakers act. “We urge you to oppose, and our organizations will oppose, any bill to reauthorize Section 215 that does not include meaningful surveillance reforms,” the letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and ranking member Doug Collins (R-GA) states. The missive primarily focuses on the call detail records program under Section 215, an effort the NSA has reportedly scrapped due to technical headaches. In June, documents revealed the agency had improperly collected Americans’ call records — the second such incident; the first forced NSA to delete calls and text records it had unlawfully obtained since 2015. “Given these serious technical failures, their serious privacy impact, and the lack of demonstrated efficacy of the [call detail record] collection, the NSA should not be permitted to resume this program,” the groups wrote. “Eliminating the authorization for the CDR program is necessary but not sufficient to reform the government’s surveillance authorities.