Tech Groups, Progressives Write In On USA Freedom Act

Saying the US Court of Appeals ruling invalidating the National Security Agency's bulk data collection of communications records "fundamentally changed the landscape for surveillance reform," CREDO, Daily Kos, Demand Progress, Democracy for America, MoveOn.org Civic Action and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have urged progressive House members not to support the USA Freedom Act if it comes to the House floor. Speaking to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the progressive groups said that a bill that would reauthorize the Patriot Act data collection with the compromise adjustments was no longer attractive given the court ruling.

Alternatively, tech industry types including TechNet, the Information Technology Industry Council, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association are calling on the House to pass the USA Freedom Act, which passed the House Judiciary Committee 25 to 2. The bill would at least limit, and some say eliminate, NSA bulk metadata collection of communications records. In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the tech groups said the bill "offers an effective balance that both protects privacy and provides the necessary tools for national security," and urged its passage without "harmful amendments." They said the bill "ends the indiscriminate collection of bulk data, avoids data retention mandates, and creates a strong transparency framework for both government and private companies to report national security requests."