The US Senate has already approved a reauthorization of the infamous Patriot Act, which is due to be renewed this week. However, the Senate also considered adding several amendments. Hearing sessions and voting was scheduled for this Wednesday. Senators Steve Daines and Ron Wyden offered an Amendment. Albeit consisting only of several lines, this amendment would have prevented authorities from warrantless collection of browsing history logs. Sadly, they were one vote short of the required 60 to pass the Amendment.
This means the final version is going to be passed without this amendment, which is bad news for your privacy. The authorities won’t even need probable cause – suspicion will be more than enough to get your online history.
To make matters worse, the law is vague enough to allow just about anything to be labeled as suspicious activity. In effect, the FBI will be within its rights contacting your ISP, demanding your browsing history without any evidence. That data can also potentially be stored in their data centers and used against you in the future. This is a step towards a police state.