Section 702: The future of America’s biggest spy program hangs in the balance

The U.S. government, like its rivals in Moscow and Beijing, has invested millions of dollars in quietly turning its citizens’ cellphones and Internet browsers into powerful intelligence-gathering tools. Secret deals between federal agencies and commercial data brokers have helped the U.S. intelligence community collect what its experts say is a “vast amount” of “intimate information” about Americans.

Most U.S. citizens are in the dark about the true scope and scale of the surveillance they are subject to.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s short term in office has been mired in turmoil over an ongoing dispute over domestic intelligence abuses. He has previously supported a number of privacy measures that he is now working to overturn, including tough new restrictions on government access to data.

This week, Johnson is grappling with the unresolved issue of reauthorizing Section 702, a major foreign surveillance program authorized by Congress to target terrorists, cybercriminals and drug traffickers abroad. The program officially expires on April 19.

Congressional sources told Wired that a vote to save the program could come as early as Thursday, after lawmakers and intelligence officials held a series of scheduled briefings on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as some smaller votes that could significantly change the terms of the program. conduct. Plans for the next few years.

Privacy advocates’ focus has shifted almost entirely to an amendment that would force the FBI and other agencies to apply for search warrants before obtaining Americans’ communications. By the way Captured by the United States under Project 702.

Thursday’s vote on Plan 702 was at least the third vote scheduled by the speaker since December. The entire process has been shrouded in a fog of uncertainty as Johnson waited until the last minute each time to delay a vote. Privately, lawmakers are debating what to do next if the speaker decides to simply let the program expire, avoiding new legal restrictions on the government’s most prized surveillance weapon.

To keep up with a situation that is sure to change rapidly over the next 48 hours, WIRED will update this article as the latest details become available. See below for the latest developments.

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