Letters: A big moment for mass surveillance reform
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Last weekend, Congress had a chance to reform mass surveillance under the USA Patriot Act. Ultimately it was blocked by a small but powerful minority in the Senate. In 48 hours Congress will take up the issue of mass surveillance again -- and it's our best chance yet to see meaningful reform.
The Senate fell just three votes short of advancing real reforms to the NSA's sweeping surveillance programs last weekend. But the fight's not over yet -- and we need to influence just a few votes. Click here to tweet your demand for real reforms so the Senate will hear us loud and clear. We've even written a tweet for you.
Mozilla supports the USA FREEDOM Act as do privacy advocates, tech companies, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence. The Senate will return on Sunday afternoon with just hours left before the deadline. Use Twitter now to tell the Senate it's time for real reform.
This Sunday at midnight three sections of the PATRIOT Act will expire, including Section 215, which has been used to collect the call records of millions of people who have never been suspected of a crime. Some think we should just let these provisions expire. While that seems like it would be a win for privacy, it could lead to passage of a weaker compromise down the road, further undermining our privacy.
The USA FREEDOM Act doesn't do everything we want, but we believe it's a strong foundation for future reforms. We want it to pass, and tens of thousands of people like you have already signed our petition and called their members of Congress to make that happen. Right now, we need your help to get this over the finish line. Click here to help us flood Twitter -- it'll only take a few seconds.
Thanks for speaking out right now, and for everything you do to protect our privacy and the open Web.
— Mark
Mark Surman
Executive Director
P.S. Mozilla is able to take on threats to the Web thanks to support and donations from people like you. You can make a secure online donation here (any amount helps). Thanks!