The Senate is expected to vote today on a bill to reform the NSA, leaving supporters and detractors scrambling to make their final case to legislators.
The USA Freedom Act would ban the NSA from collecting bulk data on Americans’ phone and internet communications, and grant an appointed panel of privacy advocates access to the secret court used to issue warrants.
It would require the government to justify their requests for data, and free up private companies to disclose the type and number of requests for information they receive from the government.
Tech companies are pushing hard for the bill to pass. Their reputations have been badly damaged in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations, with the majority of Americans reporting that they no longer feel their data is safe.
The Hill quotes one tech lobbyist who called the effort “a full push for us.”
“We have definitely blanketed everyone. I’m sure people have heard from us multiple times,” the lobbyist said.
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and Apple have all sent an open letter to the Senate, asking lawmakers to support the bill.
The White House is also pressing for a bill to pass, but for different reasons. They’re worried that, without the bill, some surveillance programs’ authorization will expire in 2015. The bill provides for extending Patriot Act provisions from June 2015 to December 2017.
That Patriot Act extension has caused Sen. Rand Paul, a frequent NSA critic, to oppose the bill as it currently reads.
Privacy advocates generally support the bill, but begrudgingly. Organizations like the ACLU consider its wording weak, and fear that it could easily be manipulated around by the NSA.
And even should the bill pass, amendments will likely be added to further dampen its effect. The White House is particularly unhappy with the provision to allow privacy advocates a voice on the secret court, and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is likely to try to amend that part of the bill more to their liking.
According to the New York Times, as of this morning Democrats believed they were near to locking in the 60 votes they need to bring it to the floor.
