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EPIC, Coalition Call on Key Lawmakers to Not Allow Section 702 Reauthorization to Slip into NDAA

EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged key lawmakers including the Majority and Minority Leaders of both the House and Senate, to not allow any reauthorization of FISA Section 702 to be slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in conference.
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
Sen. Wyden Reveals New Details about the Massive Hemisphere Surveillance Program

Yesterday, in a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Sen. Ron Wyden revealed stunning new details about the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Hemisphere program, now known as Data Analytical Services (DAS), a vast and highly-secretive surveillance authority run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the DEA.
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
EPIC, Coalition Oppose Any Short-Term Reauthorization of Section 702

EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to refrain from including any short-term reauthorization of FISA Section 702 in the continuing resolution or any other “must-pass” legislation.
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Privacy Laws
- Proposed U.S. Legislation
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
EPIC Publishes Quick Guide to the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA)

Yesterday, EPIC published a Quick Guide to the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA), exploring key provisions of the sweeping, bicameral, bipartisan bill and why they matter. The Quick Guide includes important context for each of the key provisions, as well as commentary on how the GSRA would prohibit harmful surveillance practices and close statutory loopholes.
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Privacy Laws
- Proposed U.S. Legislation
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
PCLOB Recommends Individualized Judicial Approval for Accessing Americans’ Communications under Section 702

Today, as part of its new oversight report on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the majority of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) recommended that agencies be required to obtain individualized judicial approval before accessing the results of searches of Americans’ communications, otherwise known as “backdoor searches,” except with the consent of that person or under exigent circumstances.
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
EPIC, Bipartisan Coalition of Civil Society Groups Call Out Government’s Failure to Propose Meaningful Reform of Warrantless Surveillance Authorities

EPIC joined a bipartisan coalition of civil liberties organizations in underscoring the need for significant reform to warrantless government surveillance activities ahead of a meeting with Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines and other senior intelligence officials on September 7 to discuss Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
Newly Released FISC Opinion Reveals FBI Improperly Searched for U.S. Senator in FISA Section 702 Data

A newly released Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) opinion from April 2023 revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has continued to abuse its access to information collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including by searching for a U.S. Senator, a state senator, and a state court judge who had “complained to [the] FBI about alleged civil rights violations perpetrated by a municipal chief of police.”
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
European Commission Adopts Adequacy Decision for EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

The European Commission has formally adopted an adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (the Framework). U.S. and EU authorities developed the Framework to replace Privacy Shield, a data transfer framework which was deemed non-compliant with the GDPR in the Schrems II case.
- Communications Privacy
- Consumer Privacy
- Data Protection
- Enforcement of Privacy Laws
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- International Privacy
- International Privacy Laws
- Privacy Laws
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
EPIC, Coalition of Civil Liberties Groups Urge Congress to Let FISA Section 702 Sunset Absent Significant Reform to the Government Surveillance Ecosystem

EPIC submitted individual and coalition statements ahead of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's hearing on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and related intelligence authorities.
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates
ODNI Releases Partially Declassified Report on Data Purchases in Response to EPIC FOIA

As EPIC Law Fellow Chris Baumohl told Wired: “This report makes it clear that the government continues to think that it can buy its way out of constitutional protections using taxpayers’ own money. Congress must tackle the government’s data broker pipeline this year, before it considers any reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).”
- FISA Section 702
- Intelligence Surveillance
- Surveillance Oversight
- Updates

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