(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

            The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is an Act of Congress passed in 1978 and signed by the then President Jimmy Carter. The Act stipulates the procedures to be followed when obtaining intelligence from foreign powers and agents of foreign powers both physically and electronically. The Act has been amended severally. In 2001, it was amended to involve groups and terrorist organizations not supported by foreign governments in an Act called the USA PATRIOT Act. A further amendment was done in 2007 to overhaul most of the provisions, in the Act called Protect America Act. A final amendment was done in 2008 called the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (Boykoff 2006).
             The most significant amendment to the bill was The Patriotic Act of 2001 after the country faced the biggest attack from a foreign terrorist group. The United States Department of Justice announced that it would seek legislation that would give powers to state authorities to protect the homeland from such activities and attacks in the future. The proposed legislation was to give federal authorities the ability to monitor internet use, intercept emails and phone calls as well as wiretapping conversion between citizens and non-citizens. The Act would also permit the detention of non-citizens who are deemed to be dangerous to the home land (Center for American Progress 2005). This Act is by far one of the most controversial legislation in the history of the Congress. This paper will analyze the provisions of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as well as the pro and cons that come along with it. .
             Provisions of the FISA.
             The initial Act that was enacted in 1978 did not have many controversial aspects in it and was later blamed for not providing enough powers to aid the process of collecting intelligence. Some security experts blamed the restriction in the Act for the poor intelligence leading to the September 11, 2001 attacks.


Essays Related to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

1. Concepts of State Surveillance

Some may dispute that the ethics of state surveillance actions should be reviewed according to the means, the perspective and the circumstances of collecting data or information with the use or goal of the act. ... The dispute about warrantless surveillance discussed by the National Security Agency (NSA) has arisen many issues after the September 11th attack on the United States of America and state surveillance monitored not only foreign personals but also the United States citizens. ... With the aim of, an act being right or wrong depends on the ethical norms of the society where it is exper...

  • Word Count: 2114
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Patriot Act

What type of intelligence would have to be acquired as a protective measure? ... Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, was passed in 1978. It allows a secret court to engage in surveillance on any foreign individual, an agent of foreign power as defined in the act. Surveillance under FISA is permitted based on finding probable cause that a target is indeed a foreign power, irrespective of whether the target is suspected of criminal activity. ... The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is composed of seven federal district courts appointed by the Chief Justice. ...

  • Word Count: 4145
  • Approx Pages: 17
  • Has Bibliography

3. The Patriot Act

Among others, the act expanded the governments ability to conduct surveillance, allows the CIA and FBI to share information about suspected terrorists, and gives the government the ability to monitor computer use and library transactions. ... Critics have a problem with the provision in the law in which it gives intelligence and law enforcement agencies more power to investigate. ... In the eyes of its supporters the act achieves the goal of reforming and updating the way intelligence is gathered, which has been long overdue. ... It does not expand the amount of people or groups of people w...

  • Word Count: 887
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Patriot act

The Act expands the surveillance powers of government agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and allows the FBI to monitor phone calls, electronic mail, websites and online purchases (ACLU). ... In addition, expanded government surveillance allows the FBI to demand information from third parties. ... However, the Patriot Act further relaxes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows law enforcement to conduct searches without a warrant on foreign agents (Dlouhy). ... Besides warrants, the Patriot Act increases law enforcement's surveillance authority, speci...

  • Word Count: 1410
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. The Patriot Act

The Patriot Act also overrides the existing state and federal privacy laws, so long as the FBI claims the information is connected to an intelligence investigation. ... Another aspect of the Patriot Act that has no apparent connection to the preventing of terrorism is surveillance. The act allows Americans to be more easily spied on by Intelligence agencies. As domestic law enforcement surveillance powers have expanded, so have powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. For example the government has the power to spy on any American or foreign person in the United States, o...

  • Word Count: 1886
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Patriot Act

Group Debate Essay Privacy - Surveillance In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, The USA PATRIOT Act was quickly developed as a means by which the government could hope to put an end to terrorism. ... Giving almost unlimited anti-privacy powers to domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies, PATRIOT virtually eliminates checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that those powers were not abused. ... Title II of the Patriot Act outlines this in it's policy on enhanced surveillance procedures. ... The 87 page bill, also dubb...

  • Word Count: 835
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Surveillance and the National Security Agency (NSA)

The National Security Agency's surveillance of millions of Americans' telephone calls has caused a debate about the constitutionality of their actions. ... The NSA weakens the Fourth Amendment protections and affects citizens including journalists, lawyers, and businessmen who often work and communicate with foreigners (Hafetz par.11).The second is that "under the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the NSA has been prohibited from recording domestic communications", but almost all collections are from Americans' data (Stray par.6). ... Moreover, Pre...

  • Word Count: 834
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. NSA

The United States of America has many security agencies all of which conduct surveillance. ... You can easily say that the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Act are violated. ... Reagan released an order, which allowed surveillance of "anyone inside the United States who may be in possession of "significant foreign intelligence" such as journalist or academics or businessmen returning from trips overseas" (14, McCuen). ... It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. .....

  • Word Count: 1842
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Privacy in America and Mobile Data Retentions

Their main goal is to intercept, analyze, and store any sort of communication signals, whether overseas or within the United States, to gain foreign intelligence and counterintelligence and provide as much security to the nation as possible (NSA, 2011). ... The article proceeds to describe a case where the Foreign Intelligence Court, which has authority over the many actions the agency takes, was unaware of a surveillance process that was being used for months that required authorization before usage. ... This action is a clear violation of the Patriot Act, whether the misinterpretation is th...

  • Word Count: 2212
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question