Warrantless FBI Searches of American Communications Drop 50 Percent

The FBI cut its warrantless searches of American data in half in 2023, according to a government report released on Tuesday. From a report: According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's annual transparency report, the FBI conducted 57,094 searches of "US person" data under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last year -- a 52 percent decrease from 2022.

In a press briefing, a senior FBI official said that the drop was due to reforms the agency implemented in 2021 and 2022, The Record reports. Despite the drop in overall searches of Americans' data, the report also notes that the number of foreign targets whose data could be searched in the Section 702 database rose to 268,590, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The number of "probable cause" targets also increased significantly, from 417 in 2022 to 759 in 2023. Of those, 57 percent are estimated to be "US persons," which includes US citizens and permanent residents.

Or

[Bodhammer]

Or just just found another way to do it without needing a warrant or getting caught.

Re:Or

[kyoko21]

I was going to say they are just buying it now from the data brokers, right? No need to search when you just buy it with a credit card. Probably a lot cheaper too since you can just get a subscription and make as many queries as you need and instead of applying for warrants you just have a recurring line item on a government card that is for "Data Analytics Research Services, LLC."

All at a price that even I can afford, LOL!!!

Re:

[dbialac]

There's now 8 million people not legally present in the US who have strong and recent connections back home. I'm sure that by just spying on them to spy to their external targets is a great way to get around the new rules.

Re:

[butt0nm4n]

If they are not legally present, how are they being counted? Or is that a guess?

Re: Or

[dbialac]

Just because the immigration laws are ignored doesn't make entry legal. Now we're just waiting around for the consequenses. The next 9/11? I wonder how many people we'll lose this time. Or will it be a coordinated attack across the country by hostile powers like the Iranians? That second might be in progress already. And remember:

Don't underestimate Joe Biden's ability to fuck things up

- Barack Obama. Oh, and I voted for Obama.

Alternative Take

[alvinrod]

There's a valid alternative take that they're still surveilling Americans without a warrant, but they aren't even bothering with the bullshit regulations the government has carved out for itself to violate the constitution.

Re:

[Narcocide]

Either that or 50% of the searches were directed at me personally and they've finally figured out that I'm not up to anything.

Re:

[alvinrod]

"If Narcocide doesn't appear to be up to anything that only means he's craftier than we first thought. Double your efforts men!"

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

This is most likely.

The Fourth Amendment requires them to get a warrant for 100% but the Judiciary is hopelessly corrupt.

U.S. Gov: Now With 50% Fewer 4A Violations!

[organgtool]

If there's no warrant, then there's no paper trail to prove the search did or didn't happen. That's why the Fourth Amendment exists in the first place! Patting yourself on the back for 50% fewer reported violations of the Constitution isn't restoring the level of confidence in our government that you think it is.

No syslog to see here. Nope.

[geekmux]

If there's no warrant, then there's no paper trail to prove the search did or didn't happen.

Really? It’s 2024 and we’re going to pretend they conducted every warrantless “search” without a modern computer or database that also magically did not create a audit (paper) trail of any kind when used?

No trail my ass. If your fucking washing machine has a syslog now, they know damn well who’s been abusing and how often.

Did they just give the data to a 5 eye nation?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just have another 5 eye nation search the data.

Don't be so cynical.

[Press2ToContinue]

They investigated themselves and found nothing wrong.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

If you knew anything about the Gestapo, you'd either feel stupid, or are incapable of judging your own stupidity.
Our 3 letter agencies may be playing fast and loose with our constitutional protections, but they're a far fucking cry from Gestapo.

50% fewer viloations

[awwshit]

I want to see this work for a criminal in court. But your honor, I committed 50% less crime last year and you need to give me a break!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[awwshit]

Did either of those guys admit to anything?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

Ya, the one still alive does pretty regularly. But it's ok, because he's immune to prosecution, because holding leaders accountable is some banana republic shit. Or something.

Which half?

[vastabo]

Eh, which half?

Err...

[Zak3056]

Reminds me of the last two panels of this XKCD [xkcd.com]. Our rights are only being violated half as much. Yay, I guess? Strictly speaking, it's better than the alternative, and yet someone is clearly doing their job horribly wrong.

They're still spying on Americans, just indirectly

[rcb1974]

Allied countries of the USA such as the UK just do the spying on American citizens on behalf of the CIA. Then the CIA spies on foreigners including Brits. Then all these intelligence agencies just give each other access into each other's databases. It is a loophole that needs to be closed by Congress; forbid the CIA from receiving info on American citizens that was acquired by foreign nations.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

Most likely answer.

That can only mean one thing

[Opportunist]

That they found an easier way to spy on their citizens.

We are law enforcement, we have to tell the truth!

[Slashythenkilly]

We're not looking, we promise ðY'OE

In this thread I can't tell between

[Press2ToContinue]

US slashdotters and China and Rusbots.

Lots of civil right loss without probable cause

[bruceki]

57,000 searches with only 700 of them having probable cause for the search. That's a lot of civil right loss for a lot of innocent people.

As Someone Recently Raided by the FBI

[NicknameUnavailable]

Over a literal swatting, they're just getting warrants on pure bs. This isn't "less spying" it's "more illegal warrants."

That's an interesting way of saying...

[tiqui]

The single most law-violating entity within the US Government wants you to know it's now only violating the plain text of The United States Constitution (not some ordinary law, but the basic contract between the people and the government) 59K+ times per year, and while it happily destroys the lives of average people it finds violating the law, it has NEVER actually prosecuted a single FBI employee for a single one of these now exceeding 250K+ federal crimes. Oh, and be sure to be distracted by this and not