Happy Monday, C.I.A.!

Happy Monday, CIA!

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a major surveillance reform measure late last week:

By an overwhelming margin, the House passed the 2015 defense appropriation bill which, among other things, would restrict some of the intelligence agencies’ ability to search through data they have collected and stop them from placing secret “back doors” into software and hardware products.

If passed as-is by the Senate, the bill would block the government from doing two things: search government databases for information on a U.S. citizen without a warrant, and force an organization to build into its product any technical “back door” that would assist the CIA or NSA with electronic surveillance.

Under a 2008 law known as the FISA Amendments Act, the NSA may acquire communications without an individualized warrant if one of the parties is reasonably believed to be a foreigner located outside the country and if the information is for a valid foreign intelligence purpose.

The amendment would bar the use of funds for searching an American’s communications under this authority without a warrant.

WASHINGTON POST: “House votes to rein in NSA ‘back door’ surveillance powers”

Since the Snowden leaks, Demand Progress has helped lead surveillance reform efforts, organizing campaigns that have driven more than 100,000 phone calls and hundreds of thousands of emails to lawmakers, and working the halls of Congress week-in and week-out. This win signals continued drive for reform — not just by millions of activists, but even by federal lawmakers.

Happy Monday! Though improbable, this win remains huge.

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 ACTIVISM: HAPPY MONDAY, C.I.A.!