Lawmakers want stronger privacy board

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate wants to strengthen the government’s small privacy watchdog.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) introduced legislation this week to expand the authority of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) and make its five board seats full-time positions.

{mosads}“By giving the board a broader mandate and more authority, Congress can better protect the privacy and civil rights of law-abiding Americans,” Wyden said in a statement.

“Our country must strike the delicate balance between protecting our national security and our civil liberties,” echoed Gowdy. “Many Americans are rightly concerned the pendulum has swung too far away from our civil liberties.”

The PCLOB was created in 2007 following a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, but has long been considered toothless. While the chairman — who was only seated in 2013, after waiting for Senate confirmation since 2011 — is a full-time position, the four other board members serve part-time.

The board gained some new visibility in recent years, however, following the disclosures of Edward Snowden.

In January of 2014, it issued an explosive report calling the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk collection of U.S. phone records illegal. A federal appeals court agreed that the program was illegal last week, and Congress is in the middle of a debate over how to renew or reform the NSA. 

In addition to making the board seats full-time positions, the new bill — called the Strengthening Privacy, Oversight and Transparency Act — would give the PCLOB the ability to issue subpoenas without having to wait for the Justice Department.

The four lawmakers introduced a version of their bill last year, but it did not move forward.