https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5822910-fisa-section-702-reform/

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), opinion contributor

Recently, FBI Director Kash Patel told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Bureau purchases commercially available data that can track Americans' movements and location histories. When Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked whether the FBI would stop the practice, Patel made no commitment. 

Wyden is discussing the data broker loophole, which allows the government to purchase and search Americans’ sensitive data that would otherwise require a warrant. A similar warrantless surveillance problem exists under FISA Section 702, where data collected for foreign intelligence purposes can later be searched by the FBI for domestic law enforcement — all without a warrant. These are not minor technicalities; they are massive loopholes that undermine the Fourth Amendment. Section 702 expires next week, and Congress has the opportunity to close these loopholes while reauthorizing a program that protects us from terrorism. 

Many Americans understand that companies collect vast amounts of sensitive information about them — emails, call logs, browsing history, and even credit card purchases. Most people assume the Fourth Amendment protects their private information. But the intelligence community has exploited loopholes created by our courts: when your data is held by a third party, the government claims it can access it without triggering constitutional protections. That defies common sense.

Your data — generated by you and about you — is part of your “papers and effects.” You shouldn’t lose your right to privacy in an email because it passes through a provider any more than you lose it in a letter because it travels through the mail. You also shouldn’t lose your Fourth Amendment rights because the government decided to swipe a credit card instead of getting a warrant. 

The scale of this surveillance is staggering. Data brokers compile detailed dossiers on millions of Americans, aggregating location histories, browsing activity, app usage, and financial transactions into comprehensive profiles of daily life. This data could be used to create a gun registry by tracking purchase information, or target parents attending school board meetings, or identify people engaged in other First Amendment-protected activities. 

This is not limited to suspected criminals or national security threats — it can include ordinary, law-abiding citizens going about their routines. When the government can access this information in bulk, it gains the ability to reconstruct where you’ve been, who you’ve interacted with, and what you’ve done over extended periods of time. Developments with AI exacerbate these problems.  

We don’t have to speculate about how the data broker loophole or FISA authorities can be abused — we’ve seen it. Surveillance searches have been weaponized against political donors, journalists, political commentators, public officials, and even President Trump during his 2016 campaign. At the same time, the FBI has repeatedly misused its Section 702 querying authority. Declassified court opinions and transparency reports show widespread improper searches of Americans’ data, with millions of queries conducted in a single year. This is what happens when Congress hands the intelligence community unchecked authority and looks the other way for decades.   

That is why I introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Sens. Wyden and Mike Lee (R-Utah). This bipartisan, bicameral bill is the most comprehensive reform of federal surveillance law in nearly half a century. It reauthorizes Section 702 for four years and preserves the incidental collection of American communication with targeted foreigners. However, it would require a warrant before the government can intentionally search an American's private communications for domestic law enforcement purposes. It also closes the data broker loophole by banning government purchases of Americans' personal data that would otherwise require a warrant. 

FISA Section 702 sunsets on April 20, and Congress has an opportunity to renew a valuable tool for targeting foreign intelligence while restoring civil liberties for American citizens. Patel’s transparency and administrative reforms are progress, but legislative reform should help restore trust that has been damaged. 

The FBI just told the country, under oath, that the federal government buys your location data and didn’t commit to stopping. Every member of Congress now must decide where they stand. Pass reforms that honor the Constitution and protect privacy or tell the American people that their Fourth Amendment rights are for sale. 

Warren Davidson represents Ohio’s 8th District in the House of Representatives.