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** Massive Abuses of Government Power: Urgent Reform Needed of Data Privacy and Collection ([link removed])
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by Pete Hoekstra • March 15, 2023 at 5:00 am
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* [T]he NSA's surveillance network "has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic"... the NSA, working with the FBI, engaged in the bulk collection of phone records of U.S. citizens' phone records. Other programs may allow for data collection from Google, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms. These are the alleged capabilities that have been leaked to the media and government watchdog groups. One can only imagine what the federal government's more secretive and advanced programs might be capable of collecting.
* We also must consider data collected by the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and from our constellation of spy satellites.
* Then there are the other federal security and surveillance agencies such as the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, to name but a few.
* [I]t is time for Congress to fully update the laws surrounding data collection and privacy. This also would give us the ability to see what still works, determine best practices to protect American security and civil liberties, and to end the things that do not -- especially those that leave open a backdoor for abuse.
* [W]e must examine whether the government has deferred to the rights of American citizens, or has utilized perceived openings to expand its reach and power.
* Law enforcement has acted in a way that enhances its capabilities and erodes the rights of American citizens. Three examples include the FBI's use of Section 215, where the FBI can get secret court orders for business records.
* A second example is the use given the FBI of National Security Letters (NSLs). These can be issued by the FBI without a court order. The use of NSLs has expanded massively. In 2000, about 8,500 NSLs were issued. From 2003-2006 that number increased to 192,000. "Sneak and peek" warrants are also now being used more extensively. Without any notification, these allow law enforcement to raid and search someone's home and computers, among other private property. The target may not be notified of the search for months.
* In an investigation involving conservative attorney Victoria Toensing, the FBI used the sneak and peek authorization to gain access to personal records without notifying her, even though she was not a target of any investigation. After 18 months, the Justice Department notified her the case was being closed without ever identifying who was being investigated or even what the issue being investigated was.
* With the advent of new technologies, and passage of legislation after 9/11 that possibly has not aged well, the legal framework protecting American citizens' rights has been shredded. It seems abundantly clear that our government at multiple levels likely abused its powers, and the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization has a tremendous opportunity to set things right.

With the advent of new technologies, and passage of legislation after 9/11 that possibly has not aged well, the legal framework protecting American citizens' rights has been shredded. It seems abundantly clear that our government at multiple levels likely abused its powers, and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has a tremendous opportunity to set things right. Pictured: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (center) talks with fellow members of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government at its first hearing, on Capitol Hill, on February 9, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Recently the U.S. House of Representatives created the new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Congressman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio. There are at least three areas where this Subcommittee needs to do extensive research. They include but are not limited to:

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