Congress must protect our privacy rights by stopping ‘warrantless surveillance’

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is shown at a committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 5. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The next few weeks will determine whether the government can continue utilizing loopholes in the law to spy on you.

The law at issue — Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — grants U.S. intelligence agencies expansive power to surveil foreigners outside of the United States. It is set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress reauthorizes it, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) should use his authority to advance laws to prevent abuses of the law.