| Friend,
At this very moment, Trump is being tried for high crimes and misdemeanors, and for abusing the power of his office. At the same time, Congress is weighing reauthorizing sweeping spying powers contained in the Patriot Act — which is alarming given this administration’s history of targeting activists and journalists who oppose its policies.1
Fortunately, a critical piece of legislation has been introduced that would be a major step forward in reining in these dangerous spying powers and protecting people from warrantless and discriminatory government surveillance: the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act.
Call Congress today and tell it to protect your privacy by supporting the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act. All you have to do is dial (202) 919-7073 and our call tool will connect you with your lawmakers. Here’s what you can say: “I’m a constituent, and I’m calling to urge you to support the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act. This bill would put an end to the controversial Call Detail Records program in the Patriot Act, prohibit location tracking, and provide critical transparency and oversight of government surveillance. Thank you.” This bill would add strong privacy safeguards to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect highly sensitive information about people living in the United States — like details on our phone calls, location data, medical records and financial transactions.
While no administration should have these powers, Trump poses a unique threat to the most vulnerable communities in America. It makes no sense for Congress to reauthorize the dragnet-surveillance powers allowed under the Patriot Act — especially when the current administration has a history of abusing surveillance tools to spy on racial-justice activists.
This introduction of this bill is major progress in the fight for privacy rights, but there’s a risk that it’ll get buried in all the noise around impeachment. Call your senators and representative at (202) 919-7073 and tell them to support the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act today.
Your phone call will make a difference in whether or not this bill becomes law.
Thanks for taking action to protect your right to privacy,
Lucia and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. In an increasingly digital world, we must demand that elected officials roll back dangerous spying programs that are holdovers from the George W. Bush administration, but continue to violate our right to privacy year after year. Call Congress at (202) 919-7073 and tell it to protect your privacy by supporting the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act.
1. “FBI Must Come Clean on Targeting Racial-Justice Activists Before Sweeping Surveillance Powers Are Renewed,” The Hill, Sept. 17, 2019 |
