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The threat of cyberattacks from Russia ignited more than half of the FBI’s 3.39 million warrantless survey of Americans’ data last year, according to a new government report.
Unwarranted searches, which are legal under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, rose sharply from the nearly 1.32 million reported in 2020, according to a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Almost all of the increase can be traced back to a single cyber threat from Russia to US critical infrastructure in 2021, which generated approximately 1.9 million searches.
The bureau also made changes to how it counts search queries last year, making it unclear whether the increase in searches necessarily means more spying on Americans.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows investigators to use names, phone numbers, and email addresses to filter information that the US government currently collects.
Oregon Democrat Senator Ron Wyden said he was concerned that the surge in searches was either a big problem or was incomprehensible.
“For anyone outside the US government, the astronomical number of FBI investigations into American communications are either extremely alarming or completely meaningless,” Mr Wyden said in a statement. “Somewhere in all this overcount are real FBI call numbers for content and non-content — numbers that Congress and the American public need before Section 702 is reauthorized.”
It’s unclear whether the increase in searches means more tracking of Americans, as the FBI says the data reflects the number of inquiries, not the number of investigations or the number of people investigated.
“We have made changes to our systems and processes to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the people we are sworn to protect, and we will not hesitate to make additional updates as necessary to ensure we protect the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans. “Liberties as we carry out our dual mission of law enforcement and intelligence every day,” a senior FBI official said in a statement.
The FBI’s changes come ahead of increased searches, reflected in the intelligence community report released Friday. The FBI allows agents and analysts to query FISA information and non-FISA information simultaneously.
Last year, the FBI changed the system to require personnel to choose to search for FISA information, and to require employees to verify they have an attorney’s approval before performing a search using 100 or more terms.
Foreign information inquiries were reviewed by the Department of Justice last year and were found to comply with government guidelines, according to the FBI.
However, the FBI’s internal review of its local operations has previously shown numerous rule violations. For example, agents violated FBI rules at least 747 times in 18 months while conducting sensitive investigations involving politicians, candidates, religious groups, the media, and others, according to a 2019 FBI audit first reported by The Washington Times.
The FBI said its agents have made changes in their training for these local investigations, calling errors unacceptable.
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