Tag: Privacy

Daines: Court Ruling Bulk Phone Collection Illegal is Welcome News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today welcomed a federal court ruling that the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk telephone metadata collection program is illegal and reaffirmed his commitment to ending the federal government’s mass collection of Montanans’ personal information. The New York-based 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled today that the NSA does not have the legal authority to widely collect Americans’ bulk telephony metadata. “Montanans have long known that the federal government’s mass collection of our personal data is an unacceptable overreach of power and today’s court ruling confirms it,” Daines stated. “It’s long past time

Daines Introduces Historic Reform Bill to Protect Montanans’ Privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today helped introduce widely supported bipartisan legislation that ends the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records. Daines is an original cosponsor of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015, which ends bulk collection under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and requires greater oversight, transparency, and accountability in surveillance activities. Three provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including Section 215, are due to sunset on June 1. “Montanans have seen firsthand the dangers of big government’s intrusion into our daily lives, our personal information and our privacy,” Daines stated.  “It’s critical that comprehensive reforms are put

Daines Works to Protect Montanans’ Civil Liberties and Right to Privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today worked to protect Montanans’ privacy from commercial and non-commercial use of drones and other remotely piloted aircraft.   During today’s Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Daines pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address Montanans’ significant privacy concerns over this emerging technology. “I come from the state of Montana that places a great value in privacy – in fact, you might argue that we have different privacy expectations than people in large urban areas, and that’s why people like to live in places like Montana,” Daines stated. “I do have concerns

Daines Works to Protect Americans’ Personal Information

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today pushed technology leaders to better address Americans’ rising concerns about personal privacy and safety when using Internet-connected devices. During this morning’s Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on the government’s role in protecting Americans from the “Internet of Things,” Daines raised concerns about what measures have been put in place to ensure that as Americans become increasingly reliant on technology, proper safeguards against major security threats are also implemented. It is estimated that the number of Internet-connected devices will top 50 billion by 2020. “I do have concerns as a consumer, as a