FISA Reauthorization Bill Introduced With Much-Needed Reforms

Senator Mike Lee introduced the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act to reauthorize and reform FISA Section 702. 

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) allows intelligence agencies to collect the communications of targeted non-U.S. persons (individuals who are not American citizens and who are reasonably believed to be currently outside of the United States). 

This includes collection of complete records of a targeted individual’s communications, both to and from the target. While Americans cannot be the direct targets, provisions of the law nonetheless allow for the widespread “incidental” collection and search of Americans’ personal information. 

Nearly all Americans have some degree of electronic communications with non-U.S. persons. Once this data is collected, intelligence agencies routinely run searches, or “queries,” on the databases. In essence, this means that Americans are subject to warrantless collection of their data, which can then be searched by federal intelligence officers, also without a warrant.  

In 2024, President Biden signed into law legislation reauthorizing FISA Section 702 for two years. If not reauthorized, 702 will expire at midnight, April 19, 2026. The reauthorization included some limited reforms, such as increased penalties for FBI agents who abused the search process, minimum accountability standards for querying process violations, and limits on the number of agents authorized to conduct data searches. However, it ultimately expanded Section 702’s reach, and it failed to address the central concerns.  

Warrantless queries on American citizens are still permitted and frequently conducted. The data broker loophole – the practice of buying sensitive information from data brokers in instances where warrants would normally be required – was not fixed. The 2024 reauthorization also expanded the definition of electronic communications service providers (ECSPs), earning the moniker of the “Make Everyone a Spy Bill.”   

SAFE Act Reforms 

Warrantless Search Reforms: The SAFE Act requires warrants or a FISA Title I order in order to access content of communications of Americans collected under FISA 702. Hundreds of thousands of warrantless queries have been run on Americans, including on political activists, journalists, campaign donors, and sitting members of Congress. 

Data Broker Loophole Reforms: The SAFE Act prohibits government agencies from purchasing Americans’ information from data brokers, with an exception for instances in which the data is part of a larger set and cannot be identified and excluded from the purchase.  

Reverse Targeting Ban: For years, agents wishing to collect information on a specific U.S. citizen engaged in the practice of “reverse targeting,” whereby they named a non-U.S. person as the target of data collection, when the true target was an American communicating with that non-U.S. person. While this practice was previously prohibited, the SAFE Act strengthens protections against this practice for Americans. 

Electronic Communications Service Providers Definition Fix: The SAFE Act fixed the definition of ECSPs. This definition was significantly expanded in the 2024 FISA reauthorization to classify “any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications” as an electronic communication service provider. Anyone with basic communications infrastructure equipment – such as a Wi-Fi router, servers, cell towers, or phone line – may now be compelled to turn over information on their fellow Americans. In practice, this means that business owners or nonprofits, if they have phone lines or Wi-Fi routers open to the public, can be forced to give intelligence agencies sensitive information that their visitors sent or received through their equipment. The SAFE Act rolls back this definition.  

Expanded Amici Curiae Role: Under the SAFE Act, the role of amici curiae is significantly expanded. The amici are outside representatives brought in to provide oversight and alternative perspectives to the FISA Court as it makes decisions. However, they are hugely restricted in which proceedings they can participate in and in the materials they can access. The FISA Court has signed off on many mass surveillance programs. The SAFE Act increases amici’s role in FISA Court proceedings.  

Molly Powell is a Senior Regulatory Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity.