Sunday, April 19, 2026

ACTION; Call Congress demanding protection from spying in FISA 702

 Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

For too long, this law has allowed the government to evade privacy protections and spy on Americans. Reform is overdue.

April 10, 2026
April 8, 2026
Government Power

ACTION:  Call congress and ask for reform of FISA 702-to prevent warrantless spying on Americans.  




The Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA) and the Lee-Durbin Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act are both bipartisan legislative efforts aimed at curbing government surveillance, particularly the warrantless collection of Americans' data under FISA Section 702. The GSRA is described as a more comprehensive reform bill, while the SAFE Act focuses on serving as a compromise to secure reauthorization of Section 702 with added protections.
Key Comparisons:
  • GSRA (Wyden/Lee/Davidson/Lofgren): Introduced in March 2026, this is viewed as a comprehensive overhaul.
    • Data Brokers: Bans federal agencies from purchasing Americans' data from data brokers without a warrant.
    • Warrant Requirement: Requires a warrant for accessing content of U.S. persons in Section 702 databases.
    • Backdoor Searches: Prohibits intelligence agencies from using non-statutory authorities for warrantless searches.
    • AI/Modern Tech: Specifically targets AI-driven surveillance and data from car onboard systems.
  • SAFE Act (Lee/Durbin): Reintroduced in March 2026, this act is branded as a "compromise" focusing on a warrant requirement.
    • Targeting & Scope: Similar to the GSRA, it restricts "reverse targeting" (using foreign targeting as a pretext to get U.S. person data).
    • Warrant Procedure: Rather than requiring a warrant for every query, it allows the FBI to query the database to find hits on U.S. persons, but then requires a warrant to access the content.
    • Focus: It aims to balance FISA Section 702 reauthorization with essential civil liberties, acting as a moderate path.
Both bills aim to close the "backdoor search loophole," but the GSRA covers broader surveillance issues (data brokers, AI, non-FISA authority) while the SAFE Act focuses tightly on the mechanics of the Section 702 warrant process.
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ACLU insights:

Senator Wyden says:

The Federal Government – ICE, FBI, and more – is spying on you without a warrant.

This week, Congress will decide whether Kash Patel, Stephen Miller and Trump can keep spying on Americans. If that scares you (it should) this thread is for you.

There is a little-known law called Section 702 of FISA. The federal government has abused it over and over to try and spy on Americans, including protestors, elected officials – one NSA employee even spied on people he met through an online dating app.

That’s not all. Current law also lets the Feds buy all sorts of sensitive data on you from shady data brokers, with just a credit card. The Feds can feed that data into powerful AI systems to spy on you. Kash Patel recently confirmed to me he’s buying your location data.

These powers are terrifying. ICE shouldn’t be able to buy lists of protestors. Kash Patel shouldn’t be able to spy on women getting abortion medications. Stephen Miller shouldn’t be able to spy on critics, claiming connections to foreign “antifa” threats.”

I’ve been fighting these abuses for years. But few administrations have posed as big a threat as this one. Congress CANNOT rubber-stamp more unchecked spying powers for any President, let alone Trump.

Everyone should be able to agree: The government has no business buying up data on Americans with no checks and oversight. The government has no business using *foreign* surveillance powers to spy on Americans.

My bill, the Government Surveillance Reform Act, would close all of these loopholes and finally provide real privacy for Americans. Congress must pass the reforms in this bill and restore Americans’ rights against advances in AI and surveillance tech.

These issues cut across party lines. Trump and Stephen Miller need both Republicans AND Democrats to keep these powers. If all of this scares you, I encourage you to make your voice heard.


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In April 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) continues to oppose the warrantless surveillance powers granted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is set to expire on April 20, 2026, following the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA). The ACLU advocates for significant reforms, including warrant requirements for accessing Americans' data and closing the "data broker loophole," to stop mass warrantless spying.
Key aspects of the 2026 debate, as highlighted by ACLU updates and advocacy efforts, include:
  • Sunset Date: Following its reauthorization, Section 702 is scheduled to sunset on April 20, 2026, placing pressure on Congress to address constitutional concerns.
  • "Backdoor Search" Loophole: The ACLU strongly opposes the FBI’s continued, non-warranted queries of U.S. citizens’ communications within Section 702 databases.
  • Data Broker Loophole: Advocacy is focused on preventing federal agencies from bypassing the Fourth Amendment by purchasing user data from brokers.
  • Legal Challenges: Recent court rulings have noted that warrantless searches under Section 702 violate the Fourth Amendment.
For more information, visit the ACLU's resource page on warrantless surveillance.






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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

ALERT: ACTION: Protect yourself from SPYWARE OF ISRAELIS.


Attention:  Keep the Trump Crime Cartell from spying on American Citizens.  

SPYWARE and FIZA are being abused big time.  
Call congress in protest-often. 

Lawmakers are considering reauthorizing FISA Section 702 before its potential 2026 expiration. This surveillance authority, originally meant for targeting non-citizens abroad, has been used to access private communications of U.S. citizens without a warrant. Critics argue this violates the Fourth Amendment, leading to calls for significant reforms.
Here are scripts to contact your representatives and senators to oppose the extension of FISA Section 702 without strict privacy protections:
Script 1 (Phone Call)
"Hi, I am a constituent calling to urge [Representative/Senator Name] to vote NO on any extension or reauthorization of FISA Section 702. This law allows warrantless surveillance of Americans and violates our constitutional rights. It has been abused for years, and it is time it ends. I expect my representative to stand up for our privacy."
Script 2 (Email/Contact Form)
Subject: Oppose FISA Section 702 Extension
Dear [Representative/Senator Name],
I am writing as a concerned constituent to urge you to vote against the reauthorization of FISA Section 702. Despite its stated purpose of targeting foreign threats, this program is frequently used to scoop up the private emails, phone calls, and text messages of American citizens without a warrant.
The FBI and other agencies have abused this power, and it violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I strongly urge you to oppose any "clean" extension and to ensure that no surveillance authority is renewed without significant, binding privacy reforms and a requirement for a warrant to spy on Americans.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
To find your representative, you can use the House Contact Tool. For your senators, visit the Senate Contact List.
If you'd like to tailor this to a specific political party's stance, I can:
  • Provide a version tailored for GOP members
  • Provide a version tailored for Democratic members
Let me know which you prefer.

Some info of note:

NPR report on spyware:

Another bill to reform spying laws


Can someone help us extract the KEY protective steps from this video?  PLUS key isights. 

  7:40
7 minutes, 40 seconds
The technical fix is your settings.
Go into your notifications and turn off signal message previews because with the previews off, Apple can only store the name of the app and like a generic,
7 minutes, 56 seconds
hey, you got an alert or this person got an alert on X day at X time, but it does not store the message content.
8 minutes, 5 seconds
And the thing is, this is not a setting that most people have on by default. So,
8 minutes, 10 seconds
you got to go in and consciously switch off those notifications.
9 minutes, 36 seconds
So, here's how you can protect yourself right now. If you're someone who has an iPhone and you've got Signal, turn off
9 minutes, 44 seconds
signal message previews in your notifications. Go to your settings, notifications,
9 minutes, 48 seconds
signal, and then it's going to say show previews. switch that to never because this will prevent Apple from keeping
9 minutes, 56 seconds
those that message content in your push notification database. And this was the vulnerability that the FBI exploited in
10 minutes, 3 seconds
the Prairie Allian case. So do this ASAP. Like I did this already, right? Do it ASAP. Now, also enable disappearing
10 minutes, 11 seconds
messages and verify that they're actually on. So disappearing messages in Signal deletes the content from both
10 minutes, 19 seconds
devices after a set amount of time. So whoever you've, you know, you on your end and then whoever you've sent it to,
10 minutes, 26 seconds
but they only delete from the Signal app, not necessarily from the notification database if your previews
10 minutes, 34 seconds
were enabled. So that's why you got to do step one and do step two.
10 minutes, 39 seconds
Now, if you're somebody who's in a high-risisk category, so like journalists, activists, anybody who is at a heightened risk of being targeted,
10 minutes, 49 seconds
Apple's got this thing called lockdown mode. So, Apple frames it as no device
10 minutes, 56 seconds
in lockdown mode has ever been compromised by known commercial spyware,
11 minutes, 2 seconds
which includes Pegasus and graphite. and it restricts some features, but it
11 minutes, 8 seconds
provides the most like the strongest protections available. Again, it makes
11 minutes, 15 seconds
things load a bit slower. You may not get all the let's say someone sends you a text with pictures or whatever. You may not be able to load attachments the
11 minutes, 23 seconds
same way. You know, there are a few tradeoffs, right? But if you're somebody who is in a high-risisk category, you're
11 minutes, 31 seconds
going to have to do the costbenefit analysis for yourself. And in order to enable lockdown mode, go into settings,
11 minutes, 37 seconds
privacy and security, lockdown mode. Now also it's very important to understand what encryption actually protects. So again,
11 minutes, 48 seconds
signals end to end encryption protects the messages in transit. So nobody can intercept them while they're in transit between the sender and the receiver.
11 minutes, 59 seconds
But spyware like graphite reads the messages after they get to your phone and have been decrypted. So the
12 minutes, 9 seconds
encryption doesn't protect you from a compromised device. So the security is in your phone's operating system, which
12 minutes, 16 seconds
is why you've got to do all of those other aspects I've listed before. It's not just the app. So people think, okay,
12 minutes, 23 seconds
yeah, I'm I'm I'm on an encrypted messaging app, whether Signal, WhatsApp,
12 minutes, 27 seconds
I'm good. No, no, no, no, no. That's from point A to point B. Once it hits your phone, that's a whole another level of security that you've got to make sure
12 minutes, 35 seconds
is on point. Now, another important thing is keeping your operating system updated. You're like, "Oh man, another update. Let me just skip it." Nope.
12 minutes, 45 seconds
Nope. Do never skip an update. Never.
12 minutes, 48 seconds
Because WhatsApp patched a specific vulnerability that Graphite used to infect some devices through their
12 minutes, 55 seconds
platform. So that's why every iteration of an app that you already have or any update to your phone, it patches these
13 minutes, 4 seconds
kinds of vulnerabilities. So don't skip it over because system updates patch known exploits. So never delay it, never
13 minutes, 12 seconds
skip it. And if you believe that you're being surveiled by law enforcement,
13 minutes, 18 seconds
don't forget you have fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches. An attorney can challenge the legal basis
13 minutes, 25 seconds
for surveillance, whether a warrant was required or whether or not the administrative subpoena was lawfully
13 minutes, 32 seconds
used, whether or not the surveillance was within a scope of an authorized investigation. So, make sure to know your rights before you end up in the situation.
13 minutes, 43 seconds
And so, the last bit I'm going to leave you with, which is another thing you can take action right on right now. Everything we talked about, graphite,
13 minutes, 52 seconds
signal, the secret surveillance, it exists inside of this legal framework that Congress is voting on right now.
14 minutes
Like, hello, right now. So, section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, visa or FISA.
14 minutes, 9 seconds
Now, it expires April 20th, 2026, which is right around the corner. and the
14 minutes, 16 seconds
fight over what replaces it determines how much worse this is about to get. So,
14 minutes, 23 seconds
here's the history. Section 702 was enacted back in 2008 to allow the NSA to collect communications of foreign
14 minutes, 31 seconds
targets abroad without an individualized court order. But here's the problem. It
14 minutes, 37 seconds
inevitably sweeps in enormous amounts of Americans phone calls, texts, and emails when they communicate with anyone overseas.
14 minutes, 46 seconds
So your that means your message to a friend in Jamaica, your call to your family in Mexico or Nigeria, your email to a colleague in London, all of that,
14 minutes, 58 seconds
all of that can be potentially collected and all without a warrant.
15 minutes, 4 seconds
And this again is not hypothetical theoretical. This is real talk because before the last reauthorization in 2024,
15 minutes, 12 seconds
section 702 was documented to have been misused to run warrantless queries on peaceful protesters, federal and state lawmakers, congressional staff,
15 minutes, 23 seconds
thousands of campaign donors,
15 minutes, 25 seconds
journalists, and a judge who is reporting civil rights violations by local police.
15 minutes, 32 seconds
That is the track record of this law. And that's and and if you think, "Oh, that's a Republican thing." No, no, no.
15 minutes, 39 seconds
Under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
15 minutes, 44 seconds
So, side eye to everybody. Not just some of the people, everybody. So, the current administration is seeking a
15 minutes, 52 seconds
clean, straight up 18month extension. So that means reauthorize the full surveillance authority with zero, no reforms, no warrant requirements, nada.
16 minutes, 4 seconds
And top intelligence officials have been dispatched to the hill to push for exactly that and arguing that the Iran
16 minutes, 12 seconds
war makes expanded surveillance more urgent than ever.
16 minutes, 17 seconds
The administration also wants to keep that data broker loophole which allows the government to buy your personal data
16 minutes, 24 seconds
from private companies without ever needing a warrant. So in 2024,
16 minutes, 32 seconds
an amendment that would require warrants before the government could search any Americans communications under 702
16 minutes, 40 seconds
failed in the House by one vote. one.
16 minutes, 47 seconds
That's how close we came to having basic basic constitutional protections.
16 minutes, 54 seconds
And then Congress reauthorized the program anyway and then felt fit thought it was fit to expand it and add a
17 minutes, 3 seconds
provision that forces millions of ordinary Americans and businesses to secretly assist with government surveillance.
17 minutes, 12 seconds
Oh yeah, that provision, it's still in place today. So 
There is a bill, the
17 minutes, 19 seconds
Government Surveillance Reform Act. It's been introduced by Representatives Lofren, Davidson, and Senators Widen and
17 minutes, 27 seconds
Lee, and it's got both Democratic and Republican co-sponsors. It would reauthorize section 702, but with four
17 minutes, 36 seconds
critical reforms. 
first require a warrant before the government searches Americans communications. 2. It would ban the government from buying Americans data from data brokers without a warrant. 
3. Prohibit using surveillance on foreigners as a pretext to gather data on Americans. And it would repeal the 2024 expansion that forces Americans and  companies to secretly spy on the government's behalf. So here's what you can do. 
Step one, go to house.gov gov or
18 minutes, 7 seconds
senate.gov. Find your representative and both senators. Next, call their offices.
18 minutes, 12 seconds
Don't email. Call. Say, "I am calling about FISA section 702. I want my representative to oppose a clean
18 minutes, 20 seconds
reauthorization. I want them to support the government's surveillance reform act. No warrant, no reauthorization."
18 minutes, 27 seconds
And step three, go to eff.org and brennancenter.org or because they both have ready-made scripts for you
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just to plug and play direct links that you can use to contact your representatives and they've been fighting this for years. So, they know what time it is and they make this really easy.
18 minutes, 45 seconds
So, here's a full picture. ICE has spyware that can read your messages without you clicking anything. The FBI
18 minutes, 52 seconds
recovered deleted signal messages through iPhone's notification systems and use them to convict protesters partly for using the encrypted act.
19 minutes, 3 seconds
And Congress is about to reauthorize and potentially expand the surveillance law that makes all of this possible with zero new protections for you. Okay,
19 minutes, 14 seconds
that's the bad news and that's the despair. But here's the antidote. Get that phone out.
19 minutes, 21 seconds
Protect your phone first off using the steps that I gave you. Then call your representative before April 20th. Make
19 minutes, 28 seconds
sure to share this video widely with everyone you know, especially folks who use Signal and WhatsApp or anybody who cares about the Fourth Amendment. You
19 minutes, 37 seconds
now know more than most lawyers know about what's happening to your privacy right now. Don't sleep on it. Use it.
19 minutes, 46 seconds
I'm Melba Pearson, also known as the resident legal diva. And this was the breakdown. Stay safe, stay informed, and keep demanding justice. Take care.
19 minutes, 56 seconds
In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be
20 minutes, 4 seconds
curating the top stories, the intersection of law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at legal AFMt.
20 minutes, 13 seconds
That's legal AFMt.
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