The Republican-led US House of Representatives voted to continue a controversial surveillance program that allows US authorities to spy on foreign nationals.
In some cases, the program, known as FISA, can also be used to collect data on US citizens. The approval came after the validity of this law was shortened from five to two years, at the request of the Republicans. The FISA law has been met with criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who believe it violates Americans’ constitutional rights to privacy.
Over the past five months, the bill has been blocked three times by Republican lawmakers who have rebelled against their party’s position. The bill reinstates Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on April 19. Section 702 of the FISA was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and allows the US government to intercept without a warrant the electronic communications of foreign nationals even if they live outside the US territory.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the US government to collect secret information involving the secret services of other countries as well as communications with “agents of foreign powers”. Interception is practically carried out on a large scale, i.e. in communication through the Internet, through mobile phones, or through social networks.
Because of FISA all providers of such services must make all customer data available to the US government.
