A surveillance program designed to combat foreign threats continues to be used massively against U.S. citizens, with 278,000 requests made inappropriately by the FBI in recent years, according to court documents made public Friday, May 19. These "non-compliant" requests have targeted people arrested on the sidelines of the major anti-racism demonstrations of 2020, victims of crime, or participants in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, writes the court responsible for overseeing espionage activities in a document redacted of many details.
FBI agents dug into a database set up to collect information on the communications of foreign nationals — who do not enjoy the same legal protections as Americans — in the fight against terrorism or any foreign threat. These requests are directed to the National Security Agency (NSA), which is responsible for collecting these emails, photos, videos, and other documents. It has acknowledged in the past that data on Americans is also collected indirectly or inadvertently. Law enforcement agencies have the right to use it to gather information on foreign threats or evidence of crime. But, according to the court, they went beyond this framework. According to his inventory, forwarded to the FBI to ask for reforms, an agent even asked for information on 19,000 donors who contributed to the campaign of a candidate for Congress.
These revelations come as Section 702 of the External Surveillance Act (Fisa) - which created these surveillance programs - expires and many elected officials are reluctant to renew it as it stands. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden was moved in a statement by these "shocking abuses of the law". "If Section 702 were to be renewed, it would have to be reformed to ensure better controls, to put an end to these abuses," he added.