URGENT: The FBI, CIA, and other law enforcement agencies get expanded powers to hack into your computer and phone on Thursday, December 1. Some senators are pushing legislation to stop them, but they need more senators to join them immediately.
Beginning at midnight on Thursday, December 1, 2016, anyone who uses a VPN, Tor browser, or other privacy protection tools can more easily get hacked by the government.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are scheduled to get expanded powers to remotely access and search computers, phones, and storage devices in cases where people suspected of being “related” to a crime use technological means to conceal their location.
That is, unless Congress takes action to stop these hacking powers from taking effect.
Under current criminal procedure rules, if the FBI or any other agency wants to hack into your computer, they need to get a warrant from a federal judge located within your federal judicial district. Under a new amendment to the rule that takes effect on Thursday, if you use encryption, disable location tracking, or have been a botnet victim, the FBI can get a warrant to hack you from any of the more than 500 federal magistrate judges around the country.
So, if the FBI wants to hack you but they don’t have evidence that passes muster with your local federal judge, they will be able to take their case to a more lenient (or more naïve) judge located anywhere in the country.
Another clause in the rule change would let any federal judge authorize hacking operations for multiple devices in cases involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That means if you are a victim of a botnet or had your computer infected by some malware, the government could remotely hack you under a mass hacking warrant issued by any federal judge.
The rule change was never voted on—or even debated—by Congress. It comes from the Judicial Conference, the national policy-making body for the federal courts, which earlier in the year agreed to a FBI proposal to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCrmP) so they could get warrants to hack multiple computers in different districts. The Judicial Conference has authority to make technical changes to the rules governing criminal proceedings, but this proposal goes way beyond mere technicalities and should be subject to public and legislative debate.
We don’t have much time, but we can still stop the government from getting these new mass hacking powers. Dial 1-919-FREEDOM or use this page to get connected with your senators.
A bipartisan group of senators and representatives is pushing legislation to block the Judicial Conference’s amendment or at least delay it for a few months so Congress can hold a debate. They will be bringing their bills to the floor for unanimous consent consideration on Tuesday and Wednesday. If no senators object, the bills could pass.
While Congress is unlikely to approve the bill to fully block the rule change (the so-called “Stop Mass Hacking Act”) they could possibly be convinced to pass a bill from Senator Chris Coons to delay it until July 1, 2017.
According to strategists on the Hill, the best approach at this late stage is to get the Senate to pass the bill first and then use that as pressure to urge the House to follow suit – ideally before the rule change takes effect on Thursday, but they could also pass it at a later date and have the rule change repealed.
The best thing you can do to stop the hacking rule is to call your senators and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to ask them to delay the rule change. Dial 1-919-FREEDOM or use this page to get connected with your senators.
After you call your senators, make an extra call to Majority Leader McConnell and urge him to agree to unanimous consent on delaying the Rule 41 change. You can reach him at (202) 224-2541.
Here’s what you should say when you call your senators:
“I am a constituent from [town or city] and I am calling to urge the Senator to agree to unanimous consent on legislation to delay the Rule 41 changes on warrant requirements for government hacking of people’s computers. This rule change could have a big impact on the privacy of all Americans and it should be debated by Congress before going into effect.”
You can find your senators’ numbers below.
Alabama
Jeff Sessions (202) 224-4124
Richard Shelby (202) 224-5744
Alaska
Lisa Murkowski (202) 224-6665
Daniel Sullivan (202) 224-3004
Arizona
Jeff Flake (202) 224-4521
John McCain (202) 224-2235
Arkansas
John Boozman (202) 224-4843
Tom Cotton (202) 224-2353
California
Barbara Boxer (202) 224-3553
Dianne Feinstein (202) 224-3841
Colorado
Michael Bennet (202) 224-5852
Cory Gardner (202) 224-5941
Connecticut
Richard Blumenthal (202) 224-2823
Chris Murphy (202) 224-4041
Delaware
Tom Carper (202) 224-2441
Chris Coons (202) 224-5042
Florida
Bill Nelson (202) 224-5274
Marco Rubio (202) 224-3041
Georgia
Johnny Isakson (202) 224-3643
David Perdue (202) 224-3521
Hawaii
Mazie Hirono (202) 224-6361
Brian Schatz (202) 224-3934
Idaho
Mike Crapo (202) 224-6142
James Risch (202) 224-2752
Illinois
Dick Durbin (202) 224-2152
Mark Kirk (202) 224-2854
Indiana
Daniel Coats (202) 224-5623
Joe Donnelly (202) 224-4814
Iowa
Joni Ernst (202) 224-3254
Chuck Grassley (202) 224-3744
Kansas
Jerry Moran (202) 224-6521
Pat Roberts (202) 224-4774
Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (202) 224-2541
Rand Paul (202) 224-4343
Louisiana
Bill Cassidy (202) 224-5824
David Vitter (202) 224-4623
Maine
Susan Collins (202) 224-2523
Angus King (202) 224-5344
Maryland
Ben Cardin (202) 224-4524
Barbara Mikulski (202) 224-4654
Massachusetts
Elizabeth Warren (202) 224-4543
Ed Markey (202) 224-2742
Michigan
Gary Peters (202) 224-6221
Debbie Stabenow (202) 224-4822
Minnesota
Al Franken (202) 224-5641
Amy Klobuchar (202) 224-3244
Mississippi
Roger Wicker (202) 224-6253
Thad Cochran (202) 224-5054
Missouri
Roy Blunt (202) 224-5721
Claire McCaskill (202) 224-6154
Montana
Steve Daines (202) 224-2651
Jon Tester (202) 224-2644
Nebraska
Deb Fischer (202) 224-6551
Ben Sasse (202) 224-4224
Nevada
Harry Reid (202) 224-3542
Dean Heller (202) 224-6244
New Hampshire
Kelly Ayotte (202) 224-3324
Jean Shaheen (202) 224-2841
New Jersey
Cory Booker (202) 224-3224
Robert Menendez (202) 224-4744
New Mexico
Martin Heinrich (202) 224-5521
Tom Udall (202) 224-6621
New York
Kirsten Gillibrand (202) 224-4451
Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542
North Carolina
Thom Tillis (202) 224-6342
Richard Burr (202) 224-3154
North Dakota
Heidi Heitkamp (202) 224-2043
John Hoeven (202) 224-2551
Ohio
Sherrod Brown (202) 224-2315
Rob Portman (202) 224-3353
Oklahoma
Jim Inhofe (202) 224-4721
James Lankford (202) 224-5754
Oregon
Jeff Merkley (202) 224-3753
Ron Wyden (202) 224-5244
Pennsylvania
Bob Casey (202) 224-6324
Pat Toomey (202) 224-4254
Rhode Island
Jack Reed (202) 224-4642
Sheldon Whitehouse (202) 224-2921
South Carolina
Lindsey Graham (202) 224-5972
Tim Scott (202) 224-6121
South Dakota
Mike Rounds (202) 224-5842
John Thune (202) 224-2321
Tennessee
Lamar Alexander (202) 224-4944
Bob Corker (202) 224-3344
Texas
John Cornyn (202) 224-2934
Ted Cruz (202) 224-5922
Utah
Orrin Hatch (202) 224-5251
Mike Lee (202) 224-5444
Vermont
Pat Leahy (202) 224-4242
Bernie Sanders (202) 224-5141
Virginia
Tim Kaine (202) 224-4024
Mark Warner (202) 224-2023
Washington
Maria Cantwell (202) 224-3441
Patty Murray (202) 224-2621
West Virginia
Shelley Moore Capito (202) 224-6472
Joe Manchin (202) 224-3954
Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin (202) 224-5653
Ron Johnson (202) 224-5323
Wyoming
John Barrasso (202) 224-6441
Mike Enzi (202) 224-3424