Reps Poe, Lofgren Seek to Slam Surveillance Back Door

Reps Ted Poe (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have proposed amending the USA Liberty Act to toughen protections against warrantless searches and seizures of emails and other online communications. In Oct, House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the USA Liberty Act, which would reform and reauthorize Sec. 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes the surveillance of communications from non-U.S. residents. The bill, according to the Computer & Communications Industry Association, partially closes the "backdoor" loophole through which Americans' communications--if they are on the other end of that conversation with non-U.S. resident--can be viewed without a warrant. Reps poe and Lofgren want to shut that door completely. Their amendment would prevent the warrantless searches of Americans' calls, e-mails and texts.