Tag Archives: NSA foreign surveillance

The NSA’s foreign surveillance: 5 things to know

The main authority for the agency’s foreign surveillance programs expires at the end of the year, and some people want to rein it in.

NSA's foreign surveillance

Credit: National Security Agency

A contentious piece of U.S. law giving the National Security Agency broad authority to spy on people overseas expires at the end of the year. Expect heated debate about the scope of U.S. surveillance law leading up to Dec. 31.

One major issue to watch involves the way the surveillance treats communications from U.S. residents. Critics say U.S. emails, texts, and chat logs — potentially millions of them — are caught up in surveillance authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).