Bills
| 3.23.22

Reining in Government Spying: Banning Bulk Data Collection (H.R. 2048)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 2048?

(Updated November 5, 2019)

This bill was enacted on June 2, 2015

This bill would create new guidelines for surveillance and data collection under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the PATRIOT Act. 

The new guidelines would put a stop to bulk data collection by the government. So, for example, a large-scale, indiscriminate collection of all phone records from a state, city, or zip code would not be allowed. Under current law, bulk collection is authorized by Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the FISA pen register authority, and national security letter statutes. Bulk collection of phone records (the phone numbers, length of calls etc.) from domestic and international calls made in the U.S. would also be prohibited without a direct order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

If passed, this bill would allow companies — like Internet providers — to challenge national security letter gag orders. Basically if an agency like the FBI requests information from a company, and doesn’t want that request disclosed to the public, companies would have a new process to challenge the gag order. The exception to challenging a gag order would be that disclosing the request for information could be a danger to national security or interfere with an investigation. 

A loophole that previously prevented the government from tracking suspected foreign terrorists when they enter the U.S. would be closed. If passed, the government would be authorized under this bill to track a suspected terrorist for 72 hours. The hope is that this window will give federal investigators time to get a legal authorization to track the suspect.

The statutory maximum prison sentence for supporting a designated foreign terrorist organization would be increased to 20 years. International investigations of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation would be enhanced. 

The newly-reformed PATRIOT Act would be authorized until December 15, 2019 when it would either sunset or be reauthorized.

Argument in favor

This bill is a step forward for balancing civil liberties and national security. It ends the bulk collection of data, makes FISA courts more transparent, and makes it easier for the government to track known terrorists.

Argument opposed

The un-reformed PATRIOT Act was more effective at providing the necessary intelligence to stop terrorism, and this bill could still do more to protect civil liberties. This leaves the government mired in the gray area between liberty and security.

Impact

If enacted, the bill most notably would end the NSA's ability to collect American internet and phone records without a court order. Americans whose data would otherwise have been gathered or are concerned with civil liberties, agencies with intelligence and counter-terrorism duties, the FISA court and its panel participants.

Cost of H.R. 2048

The CBO estimates implementing the bill would cost approximately $15 million over the 2015-2019 period.

Additional Info

In-Depth:

The House Judiciary Committee passed this bill on a bipartisan vote of 25-2. The bill has also garnered support from a coalition of groups including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, the Center for National Security Studies, and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has expressed support for portions of the USA FREEDOM Act, but holds that more should be done to prevent bulk surveillance of non-Americans by addressing Executive Order 12333, and a law that enables the PRISM surveillance program.

Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act is set to expire on June 1, 2015 without an intervention from Congress. A version of this bill was passed by the House on a 303-121 vote in 2013, but it failed to receive a vote in the Senate.

A panel of outside amicus curiae (basically experts in their field) would be created in the FISA court to offer guidance on privacy, civil liberties, communications technology, and other technical or legal matters. The panel would also have the power to challenge government pleas before in foreign intelligence court. 

All significant interpretations of law by the FISA court would be made public. A public report would also have to be made outlining how the attorney general and the director of national intelligence use their national security authorities.

People convicted of supporting terrorist acts would have a new mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years (up from 15). 


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Flickr user -Tripp-)