Privacy security

Snowden, privacy groups oppose new surveillance bill

Privacy-minded organizations scrambled Wednesday to marshal opposition to a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that would extend and expand US government surveillance powers.

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden joined the American Civil Liberties Union in an ask me anything, or AMA, discussion on Reddit to rally opponents to an amendment to the newest effort at updating 1978's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The act lets the NSA snoop on foreign targets without a search warrant, but the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Open Technology Institute say it goes too far by making it easier to sweep up information on US citizens as well.

"This bill would make current law measurably worse and open up new avenues for government overreach," ACLU lawyer Neema Singh said. "Instead of preventing the government from warrantlessly searching [FISA-related] databases for information about American citizens and residents, the bill could be interpreted as codifying this illegal practice."