Let’s Talk: The Freedom (Patriot) Act
Let’s start with the history:
The Patriot Act was passed after 9/11 in an attempt to prevent terrorism. The Patriot act became a topic of debate once Ed Snowden leaked classified documents to journalists. These documents showed that the US government was collecting mass amounts of phone records and private information from customers of big companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. It also showed that the NSA “engaged in offense hacking operations” that would install sophisticated malware on a target(s) computer. Edward Snowden was later charged with espionage and theft of government property and denied asylum in 27 countries before settling in Russia. He also later wrote a memoir, Permanant Record, which the US government tried to sue him over and gain proceeds from.
So what’s the Freedom Act?
The Freedom Act is an amendment to the Patriot Act and was voted on Wednesday (May 13th, 2020) in the Senate. It failed to pass with 59/60 votes, with 4 senators not voting for various reasons. Vox states, “[The Senate voted] not to protect Americans’ internet browsing and search history data from secret and warrantless surveillance by law enforcement.” Meaning that, with approval from a secret court (or FISA Court or Special Survelliance Court),which has said themselves they approve 99% of all applications for searches, law enforcement can collect your browsing and search history. If the Freedom Act had passed, the government would not be allowed to continue doing this.
What it all means
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT NOW HAS FULL AUTHORITY TO COLLECT YOUR BROWSING HISTORY, SEARCH HISTORY, GIVING THEM ACCESS TO OTHER PRIVATE INFORMATION WITHOUT A WARRANT.
If you’d like to know more:
Try “Patriot Act 2020” or “Freedom Act 2020” or these links:
Comparitech
The Verge
Project on Government Oversight
Wikipedia
ACLU
ACLU
Vox
