Some Lawmakers Worry AI Could Expand Government’s Ability To Spy On Citizens Without A Warrant

Some lawmakers are expressing concern that AI will supercharge the government’s ability to spy on its own citizens.

Specifically, they are pointing to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The act was temporarily reauthorized earlier this month, but it must act again by April 30 otherwise the law will expire.

According to The New York Times, Section 702 allows the government to collect electronic communications for foreigners without a warrant, even when they are communicating with U.S. citizens.

President Trump has supported an 18-month reauthorization, writing on social media: “I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country! Our Military Patriots desperately need FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield.”

Despite Trump’s push, the reauthorization has faced opposition in the House and the Senate.

“Any Senator who votes to reauthorize this law without real reform will be directly responsible when the Trump team abuses their spying powers to go after Americans. I want the Senate to know the alarm bells are loud and getting louder,” Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon said recently.

Adding fuel to the concerns about the warrantless collection of information is the potential use of AI in such endeavors.

“Imagine instead of doing a query with one person that you turned AI loose on these databases,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said this week in a press briefing, according to NBC News. “There’s virtually nothing the government can’t know about you.”

In this context, Massie and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act this week. The bill would “require federal and local government agencies to obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before conducting surveillance on American citizens.”

Critics like Wyden contend that the government already abuses Section 702 to conduct warrantless searches of Americans and that technological advances are likely to worsen the problem.

“For years, there have been jaw-dropping abuses of section 702. Government officials have searched through 702 data to find Black Lives Matter protestors, political campaign donors, elected officials, even a State judge who complained about police abuses. Opponents of reform say that the problems with the law have been fixed. The facts show otherwise,” Wyden said.

Wyden said that the government is allowed to trawl its way through the vast collection of 702 data to conduct warrantless searches for Americans’ communications. According to Wyden, last year, the FBI increased the number of warrantless searches it conducted for Americans’ communications by more than a third.

Boebert and Massie said their bill would address what they consider to be a growing problem and reestablish the Fourth Amendment.

“For years, the federal government has treated the Fourth Amendment like a suggestion. They’ve built a massive surveillance machine that tracks, scans, and spies on law-abiding Americans without a warrant, without probable cause, and without any accountability. Enough is enough,” Boebert said.