Senator Ron Wyden is pushing the Government Accountability Office to audit how federal agencies deploy spyware against citizens, citing a two-decade history of surveillance conducted largely in the dark. He argues that federal hacking operations lack the public reporting requirements standard for traditional wiretaps and other investigative methods.
In a letter addressed to the GAO, the Democratic senator identified the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the Secret Service as the primary subjects for this inquiry. Wyden contends that despite the longevity of these digital investigative tools, there is almost no public data regarding their scope, frequency, or the safeguards intended to prevent civil liberty abuses.
The request outlines a broad mandate for investigators, specifically tasking them with determining if agents have misused software for unauthorized purposes. Wyden also seeks a review of how agencies store these tools to prevent leaks—a concern underscored by the case of former L3Harris executive Peter Williams, who sold stolen hacking technology that eventually reached Russian intelligence and Chinese cybercriminals.
Beyond internal security, the senator wants the GAO to verify whether federal agents adequately disclose the risks of collateral damage to courts when seeking warrants. Historically, the use of such technology dates back to 1999, when the FBI deployed early keystroke loggers to bypass encryption used by Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo. Wyden notes that while these methods have evolved, the Department of Justice has repeatedly rebuffed congressional calls for transparency across multiple administrations.
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