‘Unprecedented Mass Surveillance’: Bipartisan Senators Warn Of Privacy Threat Tied To FISA Renewal
Bipartisan senators are warning that a privacy threat from artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to mass surveillance of U.S. citizens if the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) does not include sufficient safeguards.
Efforts to renew the federal surveillance law before it expires have been complicated as House Republican leaders struggle to gain enough support to pass an 18-month extension consistent with demands from President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to a Politico report. Both are pushing to reauthorize the law without changes before Monday’s deadline.
The growing power of AI is raising new concerns among Republicans and Democrats over warrantless purchases of Americans’ sensitive data by government agencies. (RELATED: A brutal political battle awaits the GOP in the not-so-distant future)
Commercially available information obtained from data brokers for criminal investigations, military operations and national security circumvents constitutional restrictions on the information agencies can collect from Americans, Politico reported.
Although agencies’ surveillance capabilities were once limited by the labor and expertise needed to analyze large amounts of data, AI allows officials to easily sift through millions of data points, Politico reported. The change prompted a bipartisan group of lawmakers to require mandates before agencies can purchase such data.
“Artificial intelligence has transformed American industries for the better while enabling an unprecedented ability to glean insights from private data, increasing the risk of unconstitutional government overreach,” Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who co-sponsored the government surveillance reform law renewal, said in a statement to Politico.
The 4th Amendment is very clear: if the government wants to search or spy on American citizens, it must obtain a warrant.
FISA should be no exception.
– Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) April 16, 2024
The bill, introduced by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, would require federal agencies to obtain a warrant when purchasing U.S. data and accessing Americans’ private communications under Section 702 of FISA.
Lee argued in a statement to the Daily Caller that Congress should not approve surveillance powers that allow warrantless searches or massive data purchases, saying FISA must be reformed to better protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights. (RELATED: Congress Votes to Expand FBI’s Warrantless Surveillance Tool Without Reforming It)
“We should not condone deep state spying on Americans, whether through warrantless searches of their communications, or by allowing the government to buy their data en masse from corporations. The 4th Amendment is clear: ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, homes, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be infringed.’ We need to reform FISA,” Lee said.
Lummis and other lawmakers are urging Congress to strengthen privacy protections before renewing Section 702 — a program originally intended to surveil non-U.S. citizens, but it has been used to examine Americans’ data without a warrant.
I will vote NO on final passage of FISA Reauthorization Bill 702 if it does not include a warrant provision and other reforms to protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens.
Yesterday, I proposed these 3 amendments to correct the program, but they were not authorized last night. pic.twitter.com/VjN1DVwieP
– Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 15, 2026
Some lawmakers are increasingly concerned that advances in AI could further expand government surveillance, citing past instances where Section 702 was used to collect data related to Black Lives Matter protesters and political donors, according to Politico. (RELATED: ‘About to Burn’: Republicans Have a Golden Opportunity to End Spying on Americans — But It’s Tearing Them Apart)
FISA was also used to spy on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election cycle.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement to Politico that allowing the legislation to pass without additional safeguards — and not curbing the government’s purchase of Americans’ data — would amount to negligence.
“Passing FISA 702 without strong new safeguards, while doing nothing to prevent the government from purchasing Americans’ location data and integrating it into AI systems to conduct unprecedented mass surveillance, would be shockingly negligent,” Wyden said.
The caller reached out to Lummis and Wyden for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
