The House has voted to limit NSA backdoor searches

A proposal to block the NSA from using backdoor searches on US communications without warrants has been passed by the House of Representatives. The surprise vote, adopted 293-123, is an amendment to the 2015 Defense appropriations bill that would effectively prohibit the NSA from using funds to conduct warrantless searches. It’s also designed to prevent the NSA from using its budget to force companies and organizations to add backdoors to encryption standards and products. “Tonight, the House of Representatives took an important first step in reining in the NSA,” says Mark Rumold, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “We applaud the House for taking this important first step, and we look forward to other elected officials standing up for our right to privacy.”

A proposal to block intelligence agencies from conducting warrantless and “backdoor” searches of U.S. communications passed in the House late Thursday night. Adopted 293-123, with one member voting present, the amendment to the 2015 Defense appropriations bill would prohibit the search of government databases for information on U.S. citizens without a warrant. It would further cut off funding for the CIA and National Security Agency to build security vulnerabilities, or “backdoors,” into domestic tech products or services for surveillance purposes. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) was the only member to vote present. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the chief sponsor of the bipartisan amendment, said it would limit the controversial NSA spying. “The American people are sick of being spied on,” Massie said. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), another sponsor of the amendment, said it would uphold the Constitution without infringing upon national security. “It allows us to get the bad guys, but also says, ‘Use probable cause and the Fourth Amendment,” Lofgren said. But Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said an appropriations bill was not the proper place for considering the measure.