Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is for folks who don’t already have one

    October 7, 2025

    OpenAI’s Blockbuster AMD Deal Is a Bet on Near-Limitless Demand for AI

    October 7, 2025

    The Verge’s Guide to Amazon’s October Prime Day Event 2025

    October 7, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » US Senate to Vote on a Wiretap Bill That Critics Call ‘Stasi-Like’
    Security

    US Senate to Vote on a Wiretap Bill That Critics Call ‘Stasi-Like’

    News RoomBy News RoomApril 19, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    The United States Senate is poised to vote on legislation this week that, for the next two years at least, could dramatically expand the number of businesses that the US government can force to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant.

    Some of the nation’s top legal experts on a controversial US spy program argue that the legislation, known as the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), would enhance the US government’s spy powers, forcing a variety of new businesses to secretly eavesdrop on Americans’ overseas calls, texts, and email messages.

    Those experts include a handful of attorneys who’ve had the rare opportunity to appear before the US government’s secret surveillance court.

    The Section 702 program, authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was established more than a decade ago to legalize the government’s practice of forcing major telecommunications companies to eavesdrop on overseas calls in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

    On the one hand, the government claims that the program is designed to exclusively target foreign citizens who are physically located abroad; on the other, the government has fiercely defended its ability to access wiretaps of Americans’ emails and phone conversations, often years after the fact and in cases unrelated to the reasons the wiretaps were ordered in the first place.

    The 702 program works by compelling the cooperation of US businesses defined by the government as “electronic communications service providers”—traditionally phone and email providers such as AT&T and Google. Members of the House Intelligence Committee, whose leaders today largely serve as lobbyists for the US intelligence community in Congress, have been working to expand the definition of that term, enabling the government to force new categories of businesses to eavesdrop on the government’s behalf.

    Marc Zwillinger, a private attorney who has twice appeared before the FISA Court of Review, wrote last week that the RISAA legislation expands the definition of “electronic communications service provider” (ECSR) to include data centers and commercial landlords—businesses, he says, that “merely have access to communications equipment in their physical space.” According to Zwillinger, RISAA may also ensnare anyone “with access to such facilities and equipment, including delivery personnel, cleaning contractors, and utilities providers.”

    Zwillinger had earlier criticized the ECSR language this year, leading House lawmakers to amend the text to explicitly exclude certain types of businesses, including hotels.

    Zwillinger noted in response that the need for those exclusions is proof enough that the text is overly broad; an exception that merely serves to prove that the rule exists: “The breadth of the new definition is obvious from the fact that the drafters felt compelled to exclude such ordinary places such as senior centers, hotels, and coffee shops,” he wrote. “But for these specific exceptions, the scope of the new definition would cover them—and scores of businesses that did not receive a specific exemption remain within its purview.”

    This analysis quickly flooded inboxes on Capitol Hill last week, with some Hill staffers and privacy experts quietly dubbing the ECSR language the “Stasi amendment,” a reference to the East German secret police force notorious for infiltrating industry and forcing German citizens to spy on one another.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleShe Painted a Few Champagne Bottles. Then Came Meta’s Customer Support Hell
    Next Article Emulators are taking over the App Store

    Related Posts

    Google’s Latest AI Ransomware Defense Only Goes So Far

    October 6, 2025

    Where Do Your Passwords Go When You Die?

    October 4, 2025

    DHS Has Been Collecting US Citizens’ DNA for Years

    September 30, 2025

    ‘SIM Farms’ Are a Spam Plague. A Giant One in New York Threatened US Infrastructure, Feds Say

    September 30, 2025

    Russia Tests Hypersonic Missile at NATO’s Doorstep—and Shares the Video

    September 29, 2025

    Heritage Foundation Uses Bogus Stat to Push a Trans Terrorism Classification

    September 29, 2025
    Our Picks

    OpenAI’s Blockbuster AMD Deal Is a Bet on Near-Limitless Demand for AI

    October 7, 2025

    The Verge’s Guide to Amazon’s October Prime Day Event 2025

    October 7, 2025

    Windows 11’s dark mode is getting more consistent in File Explorer

    October 7, 2025

    Google Japan’s concept keyboard is inspired by rotary phones

    October 6, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Business

    WIRED Roundup: The New Fake World of OpenAI’s Social Video App

    By News RoomOctober 6, 2025

    Manisha Krishnan: Yeah, this season has … I mean, this is the first time I’ve…

    Google’s AI bounty program pays bug hunters up to $30K

    October 6, 2025

    What’s going on with this Instagram promotion?

    October 6, 2025

    The Supreme Court didn’t save Google from Epic, and now the clock is ticking

    October 6, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.