Plans by President Barack Obama and Congress to reform Section 215 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act may eliminate lawsuits that seek to find the program unconstitutional, according to U.S. News & World Report. One legal expert said, “If the change comes in the form of a formal statute, rather than simply an executive branch discretionary decision, and there is no issue of past damage … I would put my money on the judiciary’s finding the issue moot.” Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) has expressed skepticism regarding legislative proposals set forth by the White House and the House Intelligence Committee. Meanwhile, The Hill reports that government requests for user data are on the rise. A number of tech companies released transparency reports covering the second half of 2013, including Twitter, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.
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