The Federal Bureau of Investigation has curbed the number of warrantless searches of electronic communications by Americans, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
According to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI conducted about 120,000 warrantless searches of phone calls, emails, and text messages in 2021 compared to the estimated 3 million to 3.4 million searches the year before.
One senior FBI official cited internal reforms at the agency for increased compliance with search restrictions and changes to national security investigations.
The Journal also notes that many of the searches conducted prior to 2021 were concerned with attempts to identify Russian hacking efforts targeting critical U.S. infrastructure.
"It still adds up to more than 300 warrantless searches for Americans' phone calls, text messages, and emails every day," Elizabeth Goitein, who is the senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security program, told the newspaper. "One warrantless search is too many; 119,383," the exact number of searches according to the report, "is appalling."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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