Privacy, Surveillance & Tech: What FISA’s Renewal Means

Meant to arm federal authorities with intelligence gleaned from telecom and other sources to catch potential foreign threats that operate domestically, the federal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was reauthorized, but not without debate, down to its deadline for renewal.

There was some contention that without the renewal of FISA, certain internet service providers may have been reluctant to continue to play ball with US intelligence agencies. The act will be up for renewal again in two years, rather than the usual five years, as the topics of privacy, surveillance, and the roles tech companies play in the equation continue to be questioned.

In this episode of DOS Won’t Hunt, Richard Searle, chief AI officer with Fortanix, and Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, managing director of the Washington, DC office of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), discuss FISA's renewal. The conversation includes questions raised for tech companies and privacy professionals, and what the policy landscape looks like as the US government also makes moves -- while touting security and privacy concerns -- on TikTok.

Listen to the full episode here.