OTI Supports the SAFE Act—a Bipartisan Compromise to Reform U.S. Government Surveillance

In response to Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)introducing yesterday the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act, the Open Technology Institute (OTI), a New America program fostering equitable access to digital technology and its benefits, issued the following statement from Prem Trivedi, Policy Director of OTI.

OTI strongly endorses the SAFE Act, a bipartisan bill to reform and reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill reflects a reasonable compromise that balances meaningful privacy reforms and core U.S. national security objectives.

The SAFE Act would require U.S. federal agencies to acquire warrants or court orders before they query Americans' information collected under Section 702. The bill also includes other critical safeguards against abuse and closes the data broker loophole by prohibiting the U.S. government from obtaining information from data brokers that it would otherwise need a warrant, court order, or subpoena to acquire directly.

Credible bipartisan reforms are essential to preventing foreign intelligence activities from disproportionately impacting the privacy and speech rights of Americans-particularly Americans of color and those with ties to communities outside the United States. The SAFE Act demonstrates that rights-protective surveillance reform is compatible with protecting national security, and we urge Congress to take up this bipartisan bill before Section 702's authorization expires in April.

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