Google gearing up for 2015 NSA fight

Google is already gearing up for next year’s fight over the National Security Agency.

The Internet giant has been one of the most persistent critics of the spy agency over the last year and a half, and is remounting its efforts, after a reform bill failed in the Senate a month ago.

{mosads}On Wednesday, the company quietly launched a new “Take Action” page to mobilize its supporters and prepare for next year’s battle. 

“At the end of 2014, surveillance reform came very close to passing in the U.S. Congress,” the company said on its site. “The voices of Take Action helped get us this far.”

In November, a bill that would have ended the NSA’s ability to collect and search Americans’ phone records, among other provisions, failed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. The vote was dispiriting to tech companies who claim that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks about the spy agency cost them the public’s trust, and for civil liberties advocates who fear that the NSA’s programs violate privacy rights.  

The fight over the NSA is set to return to Capitol Hill early next year, however, before the legal provision authorizing the phone records program is set to expire on June 1.

That could turn into an ugly brawl in the early days of the new congressional calendar.

Google’s early focus on the issue is a sign that it’s likely to hit the ground running.

“In June of 2015, we have a huge chance to protect Americans from mass surveillance when a key part of the USA Patriot Act is set to expire, “ Google said.

“That means we need to be ready to take action this coming year.”