Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Monday 30 october 2017
FBI’s use of foreign intelligence driving privacy debate

By DEB RIECHMANN information legally gath- cans that also are picked
Associated Press ered overseas. The FBI’s use up. They think the FBI
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s of foreign intelligence is at should be required to ob-
3 a.m. when a security the heart of the debate tain a warrant if it wants to
guard notices a man tak- over the future of the 2008 search foreign intelligence
ing photographs of the Key Foreign Intelligence Surveil- in investigating tips such as
Bridge a few miles from the lance Amendments Act, the fictitious American at
White House. There’s been including the controversial the bridge.
no crime, but the guard is Section 702. The law is set Measures circulating in
suspicious and passes the to expire Dec. 31. Congress seek to address
man’s license plate num- “Let’s say you find out that several open questions:
ber to the FBI. this person photograph- —Should the law be ex-
In a case like this, the FBI ing the Key Bridge has tended permanently or
might query databases been communicating with only for a certain number
containing foreign intelli- In this Oct. 22, 2017, file photo, FBI Director Christopher Wray a known Islamic State re- of years?
gence collected overseas. speaks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual cruiter, which is the kind of —Should the FBI have to
An agent might learn noth- conference in Philadelphia. information that’s in the 702 get a warrant to query the
ing or might find out the Associated Press database,” Wray said at a foreign intelligence data-
plate belongs to an Ameri- the government contends. stricter controls to better recent forum on the sub- base, or only if wants to pe-
can communicating online But as Congress consid- protect privacy. ject. The FBI agent, Wray ruse the information?
with a suspected Islamic ers how to reauthorize the FBI Director Christopher said, is “not going to be —Can law enforcement
State militant. law governing the govern- Wray crafted the bridge able to get a warrant just officials read foreign intel-
It’s these scraps of data, ment’s use of such informa- story to show why his based on that to search ligence to search for evi-
sometimes meaningless on tion, lawmakers from both agents shouldn’t have to the database.” dence against Americans
their own, that can help parties and many people get a warrant before que- “The idea of blinding the in routine criminal inves-
foil plots and save lives, in the United States want rying foreign intelligence agent — putting some re- tigations without a court
striction on his ability to order based on probable
see information that we al- cause?
ready constitutionally have —Should the government
sitting in our own data have to give the public
bases — the irony of that is more details about how ex-
tragic to me,” Wray said. tensively it uses the foreign
But the government al- intelligence database, or
ready has many tools it can how many U.S. citizens’
use to collect information communications are inci-
about someone without a dentally collected?
warrant, said Democratic Wray said tips are flooding
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, into the FBI by the thou-
a staunch advocate of pri- sands.
vacy rights. He said it can It’s at this initial stage —
obtain phone records — where leads are sifted and
who someone called and prioritized — when foreign
when — without a warrant. intelligence helps connect
“That will show if this bridge dots and spot possible na-
suspect is talking to ter- tional security threats, he
rorists,” Wyden said. “Go- said.
ing straight to reading the Director of National Intel-
content of private com- ligence Dan Coats calls
munications without a war- this trove of foreign intel-
rant is an end-run around ligence the “holy grail”
the Fourth Amendment,” that provides insight into
which protects Americans the thinking and actions of
from unreasonable search- U.S. adversaries. “We have
es and seizures. not found one intentional
“Think about it,” he said. breach, one intentional
“Would you want the gov- misuse of this authority,”
ernment reading your Coats said.
emails or listening to your Adm. Mike Rogers, the Na-
phone calls, just because tional Security Agency di-
someone called the FBI rector, said the authority
and said you looked suspi- has provided actionable
cious?” information about enemy
There is bipartisan agree- movements in Afghanistan,
ment that the law is invalu- helped take key IS militants
able in helping the U.S. off the battlefield, revealed
track foreign spies, terrorists, details about illegal weap-
weapons trafficking and ons transfers, assisted allies
cyber criminals. But some and generated information
members of Congress and that U.S. intelligence agen-
privacy advocates want cies’ used to assess Russia
greater protections for the interference in the presi-
communications of Ameri- dential election.q