FISA 702 Lapses – But The FISA Fight Still Continues
On June 12, FISA 702 lapsed. This infamously intrusive law allowed every President from George W. Bush through to Trump to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans’ communications. However, even though the statute has lapsed, the surveillance it enabled is still going on. That’s authorized through till March 2027, without further action by Congress. So the government can still use FISA 702 to harass, surveil and even prosecute the innocent. Currently, the fight in Congress is about whether Bill Pulte will continue as Acting Director of National Intelligence, or be replaced by someone the Senate finds more palatable. Pulte aroused Democratic concerns by using his tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency to go after the President’s enemies with allegations of mortgage fraud. If Pulte were replaced, there would be more Members willing to vote to reauthorize FISA Title VII. However, before the President even proposed Pulte as DNI, efforts at a long-term FISA 702 reauthorization without warrant reforms had already failed several times. So, even if Pulte is replaced, it’s unlikely that the math will math; without adding warrant protections for Americans, there likely still won’t be a Congressional majority for reauthorization. President Trump is also not helping the FISA math by repeatedly suggesting linking the already-controversial FISA reauthorization to the toxic-to-all-Democrats SAVE America Act.
Trump says he’ll refuse FISA spy power extension without SAVE America Act added on
Reuters (June 14, 2026)
Thune says Senate will move FISA bill without SAVE America Act, rebuffing Trump
Alexander Bolton | The Hill (June 15, 2026)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5925177-thune-fisa-save-act
Trump’s Threats Show His Complicated History With a Surveillance Law
Dustin Volz | The New York Times (June 17, 2026)
Intelligence director hearing cancelled as Trump pushes for controversial voter bill
David DiMolfetta | Nextgov (June 17, 2026)
Section 702’s Lapse: The Sunset That Doesn’t Matter
Pat Eddington | The Republic Sentinel (June 17, 2026)
https://www.therepublicsentinel.com/section-702s-lapse-the-sunset-that-doesnt-matter
Top intelligence agency begins mass firings under new Trump appointee, source says
Katherine Doyle, Dan De Luce and Dareh Gregorian | NBC News (June 22, 2026)
AI Makes Surveillance Simple
Alex Marthews | Restore The Fourth
Senate blocks extension of key surveillance program
Joey Cappelletti | PBS NewsHour (June 23, 2026)
Federal Agency Surveillance (Mostly DHS And ICE Abuses)
The main story in this section is a development in DOJ’s approach to charging people engaging in ICE-watching activity. This connects to FBI’s attempts to criminalize “antifa.” The charge is for “conspiracy to impede” ICE, but the underlying federal statute doesn’t criminalize impeding, but only forcibly impeding.
DOJ charges 15 Minneapolis-area residents for “conspiracy to impede” ICE
Spencer Ackerman | Forever Wars (June 16, 2026):
https://www.forever-wars.com/the-next-step-in-criminalizing-ice-protests-is-here
Sophie Hurwitz| Mother Jones (June 17, 2026): https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/minneapolis-protest-doj-ice-indictment-antifa-nspm-dhs/
Ken Klippenstein (June 23, 2026):
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/minnesota-antifa-terrorists-charged
Trump administration tasks ICE with tracking false voters
Sarah-Jane Collins | The Daily Beast (June 14, 2026)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-digs-into-voter-files-ahead-of-midterms
Undercover Cops Infiltrated Delaney Hall ICE Protest to Spy and Make Arrest
C. Francis, Noah Hurowitz| The Intercept (June 15, 2026)
US Secret Service testing face scanning app to probe, stop threats
The Straits Times (June 16, 2026)
Death rate in ICE immigrant detention centers more than doubles under Trump
Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke and Maria Tsvetkiva | Reuters (June 17, 2026)
ICE Appears to Be Buying Immigrants’ Tax Identifiers from a Data Broker
Joseph Cox | 404 Media (June 17, 2026)
Some local police departments have access to ICEs facial recognition app
Meg Anderson | NPR (June 19, 2026)
The real story behind the ‘highway robbery’ panic
Katya Schwenk | The Lever (June 22, 2026)
https://www.levernews.com/the-real-story-behind-the-highway-robbery-panic
Automated License Plate Readers
There’s so much ALPR-related reporting that we’ve had to condense it considerably. But the most important story here is that “license plate cameras” can become, once installed, a device that tracks and coordinates your license plate with the digital profile of any device in your car, and make that available to law enforcement.
This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers
Joseph Cox | 404 Media (June 8, 2026)
Flock Safety says its cameras don’t track people. Its own training videos say otherwise
Brendan Keefe | Atlanta News First (June 15, 2026)
NC- Senate considers bill to make highway Flock Safety camera program permanent
Gracie Palmer | WLOS (June 18, 2026)
OK- City Councilor Proposes Fourth Amendment Warrant Requirement for License Plate Data
Tom Davis | Bartlesville Radio (June 16, 2026)
WA- College Place police to reactivate Flock license plate cameras
Dan Thesman | Elkhorn Media Group (June 12, 2026)
Cities Suspending Or Removing ALPR: Fort Collins, CO; South Portland, ME; Weston, MO; Cleveland, OH
Unusually Abusive Or Extensive Uses of ALPR: San Francisco, CA; McHenry County, IL; Westchester County, NY; Milwaukee, WI
Age Verification / ID-Gating The Internet
This story continues to be underreported, but there continues to be a strong push federally and in state legislatures to adopt broad age-verification laws that in effect would require people to present ID to use the internet. About the only good thing to say about the current plan in Congress is that it no longer contains language modeled on the UK that would require tech firms to have a vague and overbroad “duty of care.”
Lawmakers cement bipartisan deal for kids’ online safety package
Owen Dahlkamp and Kelsey Brugger | Politico (June 22, 2026)
OH- Appeals Court Allows Ohio To Restrict Children’s Use Of Social Media
Nate Raymond | Reuters (June 18, 2026)
States, Cities, Towns And Surveillance Technologies (Non-ALPR)
CA- Big Brother Surveillance Masquerading as Illegal Trash Deterrent: 24/7 Aerbits Surveillance Drones
Garrett Leahy | San Francisco Standard (June 17, 2026)
https://sfstandard.com/2026/06/17/oakland-sf-drones-cameras-illegal-dumping
NC- Transit leaders claim adding more cops and surveillance cameras to buses and trains reduced crimes
Herbert White | The Charlotte Post (June 6, 2026)
PA- Two Philadelphia cops alleged to have illegally stopped hundreds of Black men on the street
Jillian Kramer | Philadelphia Inquirer (June 15, 2026)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-police-officers-illegal-pedestrian-stops-20260612.html
Cybersecurity and Surveillance
Two useful long reads examine how insecure our data is, and how smart appliances can pose risks to owners’ and others’ privacy, especially after their software stops being supported.
What If Everyone Saw Your Whole Digital Life?
Bridget Read | New York Magazine (June 15, 2026)
What Happens After Your Smart Fridge Stops Getting Software Updates?
Alec Hively | Engadget (June 17, 2026)
https://www.engadget.com/2196515/smart-fridge-updates-support-ends
International Surveillance News
Several disturbing stories out of the UK emphasize how much people’s civil liberties are now at risk there; and the Trump administration seems to be signing intrusive agreements with African nations where they condition foreign aid on full access to those countries’ health data.
UK- Police facial recognition growing rapidly
Chris Jones | Statewatch (June 12, 2026)
UK- Police officer accused of using AI to fake evidence
Samantha Noble | BBC News (June 13, 2026)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8wppwdxl6o
UK- Starmer’s Social Media Ban: the Reinvention of the Surveillance State
Cam Wakefield | Reclaim The Net (June 15, 2026)
https://reclaimthenet.org/starmers-social-media-ban-surveillance-state
UK- Government To Scan Asylum-Seekers Faces for Age Checks Despite Knowing the Tech Is Flawed
Matt Burgess, Maddy Varner and May Bulman | WIRED (June 18, 2026)
UK- The Government’s Discriminatory Facial Recognition Experiment on Child Refugees
Anna Bacciarelli | Human Rights Watch (June 19, 2026)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/06/19/the-uks-discriminatory-ai-experiment-on-child-refugees
France- The General Directorate for Internal Security drops Palantir
Oceane Herrero | POLITICO Europe (June 16, 2026)
https://www.politico.eu/article/french-spy-service-drops-palantir
Trump Administration Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns
Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester | ProPublica (June 17, 2026)
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-state-department-africa-uganda-aid-medical-data-privacy