Another major blow to US citizens' privacy, as the Senate passed a bill giving the FBI and CIA the power to check your browser history without a warrant.
Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Senator Steve Daines of Montana proposed introducing the protection of private life in Patriot Act, which gives law enforcement agencies the power of surveillance to maintain national security.
However amendment of privacy still needs only one vote, as many senators did not show up. (Don't get your hopes up, someone will find out)
This vote is a setback for the privacy of US citizens on many levels. There is already a growing level of concern among privacy advocates as governments around the world use the coronavirus pandemic as a shield totreatment new surveillance measures without much debate.
Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight For The Future, a non-profit digital support team, said on the Motherboard that the Patriot Act should be abolished in its entirety:
The Patriot Act must be abolished altogether, and buried in the ground. It is one of the worst laws passed in the last century and there is no indication that the mass surveillance programs it allows have ever saved a human life.
Under section 215 of the Patriot Act, the FBI and other services may request from your ISP that you use your browsing data without the need for a warrant.
According to The Register, HTTPS links to websites and SSH tunneling can make it difficult for these companies to retrieve your data. Additionally, you can use the browser Tor which provides an additional layer anonymitythrough a three-level security.
