Foreign Communications Under the Microscope

In the end of May, an event occurred in Washington that may seriously damage communication between American and Russian citizens. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted to extend an amendment that allows the government to seize the email and phone records of American citizens abroad without a legal order, in order to prevent terrorist attacks. The law is set to expire at the end of this year. The final decision will occur next year.

The law was approved during the Bush administration, shortly after the September 11 attacks. It allows the government to monitor the electronic communications of any individual selected for wiretapping, without a court order. This includes people who are not American citizens and live within the country. The Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence received the right to a court order for the mass wiretapping of an unlimited amount of people. Under this amendment, it’s not just potential terrorists who are a target; Russian citizens in regular contact with Americans or who frequently visit the U.S. for business or tourism could also be targets. Anyone the U.S. intelligence community considers a threat to American national security will encounter serious hindrances gaining entry into the U.S.

Some experts fear that unsavory businessman will try to use this as an opportunity to get the intelligence committee to eliminate their rivals, including those from Russia. After all, placing someone on the American “black list” will trigger European countries to follow suit. And until you’ve proved that you aren’t plotting an attack on the Stars and Stripes, your protests will go unheard.

It must be noted that negotiations between Russia and the U.S. over the simplification of visa procedures are currently underway. There already has been movement in this direction. Many businessmen, academics, politicians, journalists and even ordinary citizens are waiting for a favorable decision. After all, this would benefit both sides by increasing mutual contacts. In the U.S., many influential civil-rights agencies have opposed the amendment from its very inception. Plaintiffs against the bill stated that they had the legal basis for a lawsuit because their communications with overseas contacts could be seized. An appellate court concurred and overturned the decision of the federal court, which had previously ruled the plaintiffs had no legal basis for their lawsuit. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case after an appeal to do so from the government, which argues that journalists, law enforcement officials and lawyers do not have the right to legally challenge such government functions. “It’s crucial that the government’s surveillance activities be subject to constitutional limits,” said Jameel Jaffer, a well known civil rights advocate, “but the administration’s argument would effectively insulate the most intrusive surveillance programs from judicial review.“

It recently was released that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has formed a new division with the sole purpose of inventing new surveillance technologies. It’s especially targeting the Internet, wireless communications and Internet telephone services like Skype. Interestingly, this new division is based in Quantico, which for the past few years has been the Silicon Valley of technical surveillance. Currently, the FBI’s Operational Technological Division and I.T. Engineering Division, DEA’s Office of Investigative Technology and the U.S. Marshals’ Information Technology Division are all based there. The professionals of these organizations will serve as the backbone of the new FBI division. The Senate has already earmarked over $54 million for the organization. Local media has reported that the FBI is intent on ensuring that Internet companies do not challenge their new mandate, which demands that social network sites and Internet providers create special programs to assist in carrying out surveillance.