House lawmakers are reportedly seeking to introduce legislative measures that would limit domestic surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) and protect encrypted communications. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the proposals would be based on a 2014 to the House Defense Appropriations bill that sought to block the National Security Agency (NSA) from funds it uses to expand warrantless search of communications data.
The 2014 proposal offered by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) was stripped out of 2014 Omnibus spending bill by Congressional leaders.
The measure is the latest effort by privacy-focused lawmakers to limit the expansion of warrantless surveillance by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. In May, the House Rules Committee ruling an important cybersecurity amendment (Number 136) out of order during debate of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). “The Amendment would have prohibited using funds to mandate or request ‘backdoors' into commercial products,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), in a statement.
Last week, a sponsor of the email privacy bill withdrawal the proposed legislation after a controversial amendment threatened to derail the bill's intent.