NSA spying on Americans: Congress can limit (Opinion …

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Arjun Sethi, a writer and lawyer, is legislative counsel for national security and privacy related affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. Follow him on Twitter @arjunsethi81. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

(CNN) -- For the first time in nearly 40 years, Congress looks poised to limit the powers of the U.S. intelligence community, an opportunity it should seize.

When Congress returns from its August recess, surveillance reform will be high on the agenda. In May, the House passed the USA Freedom Act, a measure aimed at ending bulk collection of Americans' phone records under the Patriot Act. And in July, a much stronger version of the bill was introduced in the Senate.

Arjun Sethi

The Senate version would curb the most egregious abuses of the telephone metadata program and represents a compromise among the White House, civil liberties advocates and private industry.

Yet, important work remains.

In particular, the bill doesn't reform NSA surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Under that program, the NSA collects the content of phone calls, text messages, e-mails and other electronic communications of Americans who are in touch with foreign targets abroad.

The problem is bigger than you think.

A four-month investigation by The Washington Post into documents leaked by Edward Snowden confirms suspicions long-held by privacy advocates: The intelligence community is engaging in dragnet surveillance of people all over the world and in the process intercepting Americans' international communications without any showing of probable cause.

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NSA spying on Americans: Congress can limit (Opinion ...