Politics

The US Senate voted down an amendment to the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday that would create a tougher standard for government investigators to collect the web search and browsing histories of people in the states. The bipartisan amendment, proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a Republican, would've required the Department of Justice to show probable cause when requesting approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect the data for counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigations.

Later Wednesday, the Senate voted to approve a separate bipartisan amendment that would expand a program that reviews some FISA Court requests and provides advice to judges on privacy and civil liberties concerns.

Before the vote on the browsing history issue, Daines told the Senate the bill was necessary to keep the government from intruding into the most sensitive information of internet users in the US. "If you want to see an American's search history, then you better go to a judge and get a warrant," he said.

The amendment required 60 votes to pass and failed with a final tally of 59 ayes and 37 nays. A separate amendment drafted by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican, would expressly allow the collection of web search and browsing data under section 215 of the Patriot Act, which doesn't require that investigators show probable cause. The Wyden-Daines amendment, by contrast, would've given government the ability to request the data under a separate part of the law, Title I, which does require probable cause.

Title		Senate Rejects Tougher Standards for Collection of Search and Browsing Data [Updated]
Date		Thursday May 14 2020, @12:57AM
Author		Fnord666
Topic
from the big-surprise dept.

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