Rep. Susan DelBene - Time to rein in government surveillance programs
By Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) - 04/23/15 07:00 AM EDT
Like most of the American public, I remain outraged and deeply troubled by reports of far-reaching and invasive government surveillance programs. As we now know, the government has interpreted Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act to secretly obtain personal data from U.S. citizens, whether or not they are suspected of any illegal activity.
The post-9/11 world has certainly offered a new set of challenges for those charged with keeping our nation safe and secure. The heinous attacks on our homeland showcased our vulnerability in the 21st century and the USA PATRIOT Act, passed in the attacks’ aftermath, was a reflexive action to help ensure such a tragedy would never happen again on U.S. soil.
To be clear, I support the use of technology to aggressively target suspected terrorists. But I disagree with the government’s overbroad, and likely unconstitutional, reading of its surveillance authorities. The key is that these actions must be truly targeted. I believe the Constitution and the long-held values this nation was founded on require this distinction to be upheld.
But the precarious balance between our security and our civil liberties has tipped, and the massive amounts of data the government has indiscriminately collected from millions of law-abiding Americans has raised major questions as to the propriety of certain surveillance programs in practice.
More recently, it has been reported that law enforcement agencies around the country are sweeping up cellphone date from ordinary Americans. Following the examples of federal agencies, local law enforcement are using Stingrays – devices that mimic cellphone towers – to collect massive amounts of data. Stingrays can be used to cover a broad area by attachment to land or aerial vehicles, allowing a law enforcement agency to tap into cellphone data in real time.
We also know the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has also been collecting bulk communications data for many years. According to the Justice Department, the DEA collected call logs of billions of international calls from the United States to more than 100 other countries. That program, which started nearly a decade before 9/11 and the USA PATRIOT Act, was used as the blueprint for the National Security Agency’s (NSA) domestic spying program.
As these revelations mount, the time has come for Congress to act to protect Americans’ privacy
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http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/239546-time-to-rein-in-government-surveillance-programs