The bill in question is H.R. 7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act: To reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.
The concerning section of the text of the bill in question.
Elizabeth Goitein’s claims are not correct as the amendment is more narrowly defined than she has claimed. But the amendment is still overly broad and an inappropriate overreach of government surveillance.
Elizabeth Goitein is Co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
FYI, the article got the date of the House vote incorrect (it was Friday April 12, not Saturday April 13).
For those who refuse to read a little bit. The bill says what Goitein has posted. However it also includes a number of exclusions to those conditions.
Those exceptions being:
a public accommodation facility
a dwelling, as that term is defined in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act
a community facility, as that term is defined in section 315 of the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951
a food service establishment, as that term is defined in section 281 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638)
So, this excludes places people live, community provided facilities to access the internet, and any other publicly provided internet point of access, and places that serve food, like starbuck’s wifi.
It is still overly broad, to say the least. Personally I am of the opinion that organizations like the NSA already operate in such a manner without impunity as it is and we are just slowly bringing the law up to speed.
