The debate over the limits of domestic surveillance has intensified in recent days, as the June 1st expiration date of several controversial provisions of the Patriot Act draws near.   Three sections of the Patriot Act sunset on June 1st: Section 6001 (the so-called “Lone Wolf” provision, which allows greater surveillance of non-U.S. persons), Section 206 (the so-called “Roving Wiretap” provision, which waives the requirement for surveillance orders to state with particularity the subject under surveillance), and Section 215.  So far, Section 215 has received the most attention, as it allows the government to compel businesses to disclose “tangible things,” such as user records, if they are relevant to an investigation.  The investigation must not concern a U.S. citizen, or, alternatively, must be undertaken to protect against “international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities” and cannot be based solely upon activities protected by the First Amendment.

Section 215 forms the legal basis for the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records, a program that many privacy advocates have objected to. Section 215 is not a stand-alone law; it modifies part of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which first established the court system tasked with oversight of certain surveillance operations, including those conducted pursuant to Section 215.  In 2013, leaked documents revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) used Section 215 to begin collecting the phone records of millions of Americans starting in 2006.  The information it obtained included the parties to phone calls, the date of phone calls, and the duration of phone calls.  To obtain such information, the NSA sought orders from the FISA Court.  Those applications for orders, and the FISA Court’s rulings, are classified, but reports show that the number of these applications has greatly increased in recent years.  In 2009, the government sought 21 Section 215 applications, whereas in 2012, the government sought 212 Section 215 orders from the FISA Court.

Currently, the future of Section 215 is far from clear.  President Obama has stated that reforms to the bulk collection of data are a priority, and Congress is poised to consider changes to the government’s data collection.  Simply allowing Section 215 to expire, along with the Lone Wolf provision and the Roving Wiretap provision, may hinder some aspects of surveillance, but it’s unlikely to dramatically change the legal landscape when it comes to surveillance.  Other provisions of the Patriot Act that expanded the government’s surveillance powers will remain in effect past June 1st, including Section 702, the law cited for the controversial PRISM program that focused on the bulk collection of internet data (Section 702 will expire in 2017). The continuation of such laws past June 1st certainly guarantees one thing: the debate over security versus privacy will remain fierce for a long time to come.