For years, the American people have been abused by the government. You already know that.

But you might not know the extent of the abuse.

Under the guise of fighting terrorism and protecting our country, intelligence agencies have been collecting your personal communications.

That is a violation of the 4th Amendment, which requires the government to secure search warrants from a judge before taking personal information.

Though these actions completely violate our rights, the House voted to, yet again, trample on your privacy. They voted in favor of renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for another six years.

From The Orange County Register:

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to disregard the constitutional rights of Americans and extend the powers of intelligence agencies.

With a vote of 256-164, the House approved a six-year reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes the surveillance of non-Americans abroad for national security purposes.

Despite assurances that the collection of communications are targeted at foreign targets abroad, it is known that the communications of American citizens are also collected, stored and accessed by federal agencies under the guise of Section 702 — Authorized Data Collection.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects Americans from searches and seizures without a warrant. Under the status quo of Section 702, this fundamental protection has been violated for years in the name of national security…

The bill now moves to the Senate, where Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have pledged to filibuster it.

There is a silver lining, in the form of Rand Paul. This senator has always fought to put Americans’ freedoms first. He is against renewing FISA. He might not be able to win over a majority of GOP senators, but he’s going to do his best to make sure you’re no longer being spied on by the government.

In short, he wants to preserve our Fourth Amendment rights.

Our government has no right to monitor our emails, texts, phone calls, or other communications. Even in an age of digital communication, we deserve privacy. Only through a warrant, based on probable evidence, should they be able to monitor communication. That would leave out the vast majority of Americans.

But intelligence agencies don’t care about your rights. They are only interested in power. That’s why we need the courts and Congress to preserve our freedoms. The House failed us. We must take a stand.

Hopefully, the Senate will have more sense.

Source: The Orange County Register