S.T.O.P. Condemns FBI’s Systematic Abuse Of Foreign Intelligence Databases To Target Americans

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns FBI’s Systematic Abuse Of Foreign Intelligence Databases To Target Americans (New York, NY, 5/19/2023) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, condemns the FBI’s systematic abuse of Section 702 databases to target American citizens and U.S. persons, including Black Lives Matter protesters. According to a Washington Post report, the database has been misused over 278,000 times. Created in the aftermath of 9/11, Section 702 contains sweeping electronic communications and other surveillance records the FBI and NSA are only authorized to search for foreign intelligence purposes.   SEE: Washington Post -  FBI misused surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM arrestees and others  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/19/fbi-digital-surveillance-misuse-jan6-blm/ “When the FBI misuses this sort of power even once, it’s a scandal, but when they do it a quarter million times, it’s a threat to democracy itself,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “When those who swore to uphold the law violate it, there clearly must be consequences. But when a law enforcement agency systematically breaks the law like this, we need truly structural changes. It has never been clearer that Section 702 is simply too powerful to be trusted to the FBI or any other agency. We’ve warned for years that these tools are ripe for abuse, and President Biden and the Congress can’t ignore the threat a day longer.” In March, S.T.O.P. condemned the FBI and Department of Defense’s research and development of “truly unconstrained face imagery” aiming to scan people’s faces up to half a mile away in public spaces without their consent, using surveillance cameras and drones. In 2021, the civil rights group condemned the FBI’s relationship with controversial facial recognition vendor, Clearview AI, which has drawn widespread scrutiny for taking the publics’ images from social media and other websites without consent.   SEE: Press Release -  S.T.O.P. Condemns FBI, DoD’s Research On Wide-Area Facial Recognition, Renews Call For Ban  https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/3/7/stop-condemns-fbi-dods-research-on-wide-area-facial-recognition-renews-call-for-ban S.T.O.P. Condemns FBI Facial Recognition With Clearview AI https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/1/11/stop-condemns-fbi-facial-recognition-with-clearview-ai The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. -- END -- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.