The FBI's searches, some of which were considered inappropriate previously, sparked a heated debate in Congress regarding the renewal of a surveillance program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.
According to the Annual Statistical Transparency Report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the number of FBI queries involving "U.S. persons" decreased from 119,383 in the previous year to 57,094 from December 2022 to November 2023 as reported.
Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties have expressed concerns about aspects of the surveillance program that they believe violate the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, pointing to previous instances of misuse by the FBI. Despite these objections, the Biden administration pushed for the reauthorization of Section 702, emphasizing its importance in safeguarding U.S. national security.
On April 20, President Biden signed the bill into law, extending the authorization of Section 702 for an additional two years.
The total number of targets under Section 702, all classified as "non-U.S. persons," has risen to 268,590 from 246,073 in 2022, demonstrating a consistent year-over-year increase.
During a statement on Tuesday, Rebecca Richards, the head of ODNI's Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy and Transparency, noted that the total number of targets has grown as the intelligence community works to address both traditional and emerging foreign intelligence needs of its clients. The term "unmasking" pertains to revealing identities that are typically redacted in classified documents, a process that can be requested by specific government agencies and officials.
"'U.S. person means more than just a human being,'" Richards added. "It was related to the critical infrastructure in those U.S. companies. And so that is still U.S. person information, even though it's not about ... an individualized human being."
Recent months have seen warnings from U.S. officials about a widespread campaign conducted by Chinese hackers aimed at American infrastructure, under the operation name "Volt Typhoon." Additionally, concerns have been raised about the ongoing threat posed by malicious actors from Russia and Iran to key sectors in the country.
