FISA Amendments Act (2008)
The amendment that created Section 702 — surveillance targeting persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States, conducted with the compelled assistance of U.S. providers under a directive rather than an individual order.
FISA Amendments Act of 2008
This amendment to FISA permitted the intelligence community to access domestic communications facilities when conducting surveillance on persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States, provided that sufficient "minimization" techniques were employed to avoid intercepting the communications of U.S. persons. The law sought to address the difficulty of tracking terrorists who use Internet communications, which frequently cross national borders and do not identify the nationalities of the parties.
For a provider the operative instrument is a directive under Section 702: a written direction from the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to furnish all information, facilities and assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition, with compensation, with immunity for compliance, and with a procedure for challenging the directive before the FISA court.
The parts that matter to a provider.
Section 702
Targeting of non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States, under certifications approved annually by the FISA court rather than individual orders.
Targeting and minimization procedures
Court-reviewed procedures to ensure targeting is limited to persons outside the United States and that U.S.-person information acquired incidentally is minimized.
Directives to providers
An electronic communication service provider may be directed to assist; it is compensated, it is immune from suit for compliance, and it may petition the FISA court to modify or set aside the directive.
Reauthorized since
Section 702 has been reauthorized and amended several times since 2008; check the current position before relying on any date-specific detail.
Does this apply to you?
Electronic communication service providers as FISA defines them, which includes telecommunications carriers and providers of electronic communication or remote computing service.
FISA Amendments Act of 2008, full text
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Other primary documents.
CALEA Act of 1994
What CALEA (1994) requires, section by section — definitions, capability, security, safe harbor, enforcement — with the full text to download.
CALEA Broadband Coverage Order (2005)
The 2005 FCC order that extended CALEA to facilities-based broadband and interconnected VoIP providers — what it decided, why, and what it left open.
CALEA Capability Order (2006)
The 2006 FCC order that set the May 14, 2007 deadline, permitted Trusted Third Parties, required SSI filings and monitoring reports, and settled who pays.
ECPA (1986)
What ECPA did: extended the Wiretap Act to electronic communications and created the Pen Register Act and the Stored Communications Act — the tiers of process.
The Wiretap Act (1968)
The 1968 statute behind every Title III order: a general prohibition on intercepting communications, with a court-supervised exception on probable cause.
FISA (1978)
What FISA authorizes — foreign-intelligence surveillance of foreign powers and their agents under the FISA court — and what a FISA order means for a carrier.