With fewer than thirty days until a key provision of the Patriot Act expires, some members of Congress are
trying to kill it for good. (While some are trying to
keep it alive.)
But while Silicon Valley lauds the effort, notable privacy groups are far from pleased.
The flagship anti-surveillance bill, the Freedom Act, aims at kicking the National Security Agency's spying programs to the curb. The bill aims to end bulk domestic data collection, strengthen civil liberties, and give technology companies greater rights to transparency.
The bipartisan and bicameral bill was reintroduced last week, less than a year after it was first drafted. The original bill passed the House last year, but
failed in the Senate by a narrow margin. Although it gained wide support from the technology industry in the beginning, privacy groups
pulled their support after provisions were weakened.
