A trade organization representing some of the world's largest information technology companies—among them Google, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft—says its members are speaking out strongly against the the Biden administration's ongoing effort to significantly expand a key U.S. government oversight agency.
The US Senate is ready to vote Thursday on legislation that would expand the global wiretapping program authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Passed the House of Representatives last weekA provision in the bill—known as the Intelligence Reform and Defense of America Act (RISAA)—threatens to significantly expand the scope of the spy program, forcing the government to seek support from all new types of businesses.
Legal experts argue This provision could allow the government to arrest virtually anyone with access to facility or equipment housing communications data, forcing “delivery workers, cleaning contractors, and suppliers to utilities,” among others, must assist U.S. spies in gaining access to Americans' emails, phone calls, and text messages—as long as one communicating party is a foreign national. outside.
A global technology trade association, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), is currently urge the National Assembly does not pass RISAA without eliminating a key provision that “significantly expands the scope of entities and individuals covered” by the program, known as Section 702. ITI said, the changes to The 702 program contained in the House Bill would only serve to send customers in the United States and abroad fleeing to foreign competitors, convincing many that technology in the United States is too vulnerable to government surveillance. close.
Members of the group include several major device manufacturers such as Ericsson, Nokia and Broadcom as well as major cloud storage providers such as Google, Microsoft, IBM and Salesforce. “ITI's position is that this provision must be eliminated,” the group's communications director, Janae Washington, told WIRED. “Our position is based on the consensus of our members.”
Individual ITI member companies that WIRED contacted for comment on the legislation did not immediately respond or declined to comment.
The criticized provision stems from a ruling made by the US government's secretive surveillance court – the FISA court – which oversees the 702 program. The program was designed to target communications with foreign nationals. outside, including calls and emails to and from US citizens. To achieve this goal, the federal statute specifies that the government may mandate support for businesses falling into a category the government calls “electronic communications service providers,” or ECSPs.
Companies like Google and AT&T often fall into this category as direct providers of wiretapped services; However, in recent years, the U.S. government has also moved to a broader interpretation of the term as part of an effort to expand the list of entities that the government is allowed to support.
The FISA Court, in a decision upheld by its own review body, objected to the expanded definition, telling the government that what constitutes an ECSP remains “open to the discretion of the competent branches of government and constitutional authority extends to revision by statutory review”.
More precisely: The court reminded the government that only Congress has the power to rewrite laws.
