In a shameful vote this week as part of an extension of the dreaded and controversial Patriot Act, the Senate handed William Barr and the Trump administration the ability to spy on Americans’ web browsing and internet search histories without a warrant.
The vote on a bipartisan amendment to protect this information from government surveillance sparked immediate outrage online – and deservedly so. Our web browsing and search histories contain the most intimate personal information. Any administration – let alone the draconian Trump justice department – should be required to comply with the fourth amendment before trawling through it.
Depressingly, the amendment failed to pass the 60-vote threshold by exactly one vote, 59-37, with two Democratic caucus members, including Bernie Sanders, failing to show up. “As far as I can tell we lost because there were some people absent,” Ron Wyden, who co-sponsored the bill with Republication senator Steve Daines, told Politico.
No comments:
Post a Comment