Sen. Franken Introduces Bill to Increase Transparency of Government Surveillance Programs

[ProSense]

Sen. Franken Introduces Bill to Increase Transparency of Government Surveillance Programs

Senator’s Bill Would Help Americans Hold Government Accountable

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Today U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced legislation that would increase transparency on government surveillance programs.

Sen. Franken's Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 would expand and improve ongoing government reporting about programs under the PATRIOT Act and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that have been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. The bill would also make it easier for companies to voluntarily disclose information about the data the government requires them to turn over.

Currently, federal laws require the government to release only a minimum amount of information to the public about these programs, which the federal government has recently supplemented with additional, ad hoc disclosures. The companies involved in these programs are subject to strict gag orders.

"I believe the government must give proper weight to both keeping America safe from terrorists and protecting Americans' privacy," said Sen. Franken. "And part of that is making sure that there is enough transparency so that Americans understand the protections that are in place. Based on briefings I've received, I believe there are reasonable safeguards in place in these programs to protect Americans' privacy. But the American people should not have to take the government's word for it. And I don't want transparency only where it's convenient to the government. The American public deserves more transparency, and my bill goes a long way toward doing that."

Sen. Franken is the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. He has been a long-time advocate of increased transparency of government surveillance programs. In 2011 and 2012, he cosponsored legislation to ensure that the American people have a basic understanding of the programs designed to protect them. When these measures did not pass, he voted against reauthorizing key provisions of both the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 would:

• The number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders issued under key provisions of the PATRIOT Act and FISA;
  
• The number of searches run on that data, including the number of searches run based on data from American citizens and permanent residents;
  
• The general categories of information collected;
  
• The number of American citizens and permanent residents whose information was collected under the categories and;
  
• The number of American citizens and permanent residents whose information was actually reviewed by federal agents.

Allow companies to voluntarily disclose:

• The number of orders they received and complied with;
  
• The general categories of information they produced; and
  
• The number of users whose information was produced in the categories.

You can read more about the Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 here and find bill text here. You can watch video of Sen. Franken discussing the need for increased transparency during yesterday's Judiciary Committee here.

Sen. Franken's legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tom Udall (D-N. Mex.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

Sen. Franken's legislation responds to the concerns of over 60 leading Internet companies and advocacy groups who recently wrote the President and congressional leaders to demand more government disclosure on surveillance programs and the ability to release information on data the government is requesting. It is supported by a bipartisan coalition of civil society groups, including the American Library Association, the ACLU, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Constitution Project, Consumer Action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, OpentheGovernment.org, and Reporters Without Borders.

http://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2530

http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/documents/130801TransparencySummary.pdf
http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/documents/130801TransparencyText.pdf

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. More legislation? And all else is forgotten/forgiven? Let him call for the prosecution of Clapper.

[ProSense]

3. Yeah, I didn't think reform was the goal. n/t

[AnotherMcIntosh]

5. Do you want Clapper prosecuted? Do you think that he is keeping information from Obama?

Surely if Obama only knew that the NSA is spying upon all Americans, and that Clapper lied to Congress in the least untruthful way, he would do something.

Or is this a matter of Obama can do no wrong and therefore Clapper can do no wrong?

[ProSense]

8. I've posted many times

"Do you want Clapper prosecuted? Do you think that he is keeping information from Obama?"

...that there is no way the charge he lied sticks. First, his comment was from a hearing in March, long before the leak. Secondly, nothing revealed shows any deliberate targeting of Americans and nothing illegal.

Finally, Wyden isn't pushing the charge that Clapper lied. He keeps talking about misleading statements, and it's likely because he knows that the information was classified. He himself refuses to discuss the details.

&quot Sen. Wyden) on Edward Snowden, how the NSA misled Congress, and reining in the massive collection"
http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10023381665

As to your second question, the President appears to have a full grasp of what's going on.

I don't think anyone can be all-knowing, but you seem to be implying that Clapper is withholding information from Obama. Would that be the information that Wyden knows? What exactly are you talking about?

[Recursion]

7. Welcome to the real world.

You're never going to get that moment where your opponents realize they were wrong and admit you were right.

You're never going to be publicly vindicated. Accept this.

What we can work for is improving the existing very flawed system. That's about it.

[msongs]

2. better a bill to put an end to the government's spying on everyone nt

[leftstreet]

9. The government doesn't spy on Americans

Obama To Leno: 'There Is No Spying On Americans'

by Greg Henderson
August 07, 201312:44 AM


President Obama defended the US government's surveillance program, telling NBC's Jay Leno on Tuesday that: "There is no spying on Americans."

"We don't have a domestic spying program," Obama said on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. "What we do have is some mechanisms that can track a phone number or an email address that is connected to a terrorist attack. ... That information is useful."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/06/209692380/obama-to-leno-there-is-no-spying-on-americans

See?

[Pholus]

4. A positive step. However,

considering that Franken and all cosponsors voted for Wyden's amendments to FISA and that lost badly it's probably toast. Only Blumenthal crosses the prior vote divisions to cosponsor this and that vote was hardly close in the end.

Perhaps, with the right encouragement, it can actually pass.

But in any case, it's nice to see it even if it is several years late.

[DevonRex]

10. This will pass. Wyden's lost for a very good reason.

Even people who voted for it did so only because they knew it had no chance.

[Recursion]

6. Count me in (nt)