U.S. lawmakers ask for disclosure of number of Americans under surveillance

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

POLITICS | Fri Apr 7, 2017 | 12:09pm EDT

U.S. lawmakers ask for disclosure of number of Americans under surveillance

By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON

A U.S. congressional committee on Friday asked the Trump administration to disclose an estimate of the number of Americans whose digital communications are incidentally collected under foreign surveillance programs, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Such an estimate is "crucial as we contemplate reauthorization," of parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican, and John Conyers, the panel's top Democrat, wrote in a letter addressed to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

The request comes as some Republican lawmakers, many of whom have stridently defended U.S. surveillance programs in the past, express sudden interest in considering additional privacy safeguards to how U.S. spy agencies collect and share intelligence that contains information about Americans.

That interest has been sparked by evolving, unsubstantiated assertions that the Obama White House used surveillance powers to improperly spy on the incoming Trump administration.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-surveillance-idUSKBN1792G6

[Pablorama]

1. What's the point?

Every law enforcement agency in the country will have our browsing history, we'll all be under surveillance.