Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Keep Section 702 Out of NDAA

The coalition’s letter calls for any reauthorization to be kept out of the National Defense Authorization Act and other legislation in the final days of the 119th Congress. It seeks reforms including a warrant requirement for accessing US persons’ communications in Section 702 databases and a ban on the government buying Americans’ data from brokers.

Section 702 permits warrantless surveillance of electronic communications involving noncitizens outside the United States. The provision expired in June, but surveillance operations can continue through next March. The groups say past abuses have included searches involving left- and right-wing protesters, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, lawmakers and staff, government officials, political commentators and journalists. They also warn that artificial intelligence is making it easier to analyze personal data at scale.

Signatories include the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law. Brennan Center counsel Hannah James said slipping an extension into must-pass legislation would bypass open debate. Demand Progress policy adviser Hajar Hammado said the public opposed mass surveillance, while Due Process Institute vice president Jason Pye called a renewal without the proposed safeguards a troubling message to voters.

The appeal follows calls by several Democrats for Congress to act before the next Congress. House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told Politico he preferred a lame-duck reauthorization, with action in the first quarter if that effort failed. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) also supported action before the new Congress, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said it should happen as soon as possible.

Hammado sharply criticized Himes, saying a renewal was also sought by President Donald Trump and his incoming chief of staff, Stephen Miller. The groups argue that constitutional protections should not depend on who occupies the White House and want Congress to reject a renewal without reforms.