Liberties groups: Don’t limit privacy oversight group

Dozens of civil liberties groups, tech companies and academics are speaking out against attempts to limit the authority of a federal privacy watchdog. 

Groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Church World Service; companies including Microsoft, Google and Symantec; and academics across the world co-signed a letter to senators urging them to reconsider restricting an advisory group from considering the international effects of policy. 

{mosads}The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board “advise[s] the President and the departments, agencies, and elements of the executive branch to ensure that privacy and civil liberties are appropriately considered” in new policies, the letter notes.

Right now, that advice is not limited to civil liberties abuses within the U.S. border. The oversight board can comment on surveillance overreach by the U.S. when it affects any person the world over. But the Senate Intelligence Authorization currently under consideration would restrict it to only consider the effects on “U.S. persons”

“This provision is detrimental to human rights and to trans-Atlantic trade,“ reads the letter.

The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was created in 2007, and is confirmed by the Senate. It has made implemented recommendations including the public release of certain FISA decisions and allowing the FISA courts to hear third-party opinions. 

“All persons should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their nationality or wherever they might reside, and all persons have legitimate privacy interests in the handling of their personal information,” reads the letter.