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Congress weighs the future of a controversial surveillance program.

From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Lily Dramale. Holly.

Three years ago, Three years ago as millions protested the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police authorities were watching in more ways than one.

The FBI, we now know, used Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA,

to investigate if those protesters had terrorist ties.

When Section 702 became law in 2008, the intelligence community argued collecting phone

calls, texts, and emails of people outside the US could protect against terrorism.

But the communications of many Americans have also been collected all without the required warrants.

The government then decides whether to search that data.

Critics call them backdoor searches.

Section 702 is set to expire at the end of the month.

Elizabeth Guayteen at the Brennan Center for Justice

explained what members of Congress are considering

as they decide whether to extend it.

The primary question is whether the government should

continue to be able to have warrantless access to this information for purposes of essentially spying on Americans.

And really I think there's a pretty strong consensus emerging that it is not acceptable to go forward with the status quo. The primary

reform that's under consideration is a requirement that the government obtain a

...