S.Amdt. 6160

The Protecting Americans from Government Spying Act is an amendment to bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to change how the government handles queries and accesses information regarding United States persons and people located in the United States under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

The amendment aims to add the following changes to the bill:

• Query Procedure Reform: It defines a covered person as a United States person or someone reasonably believed to be in the U.S. at the time of the query or the creation of the information. It also defines a covered query as one using terms associated with these persons or intended to retrieve their information.

• Restrictions on Warrantless Access: It generally prohibits government officers or employees from accessing communications content or information that would normally require a probable cause warrant if it was returned from a covered query.

• Specific Exceptions: Access without a warrant is only allowed in certain cases, including:

  • The person is already the subject of a specific court order or warrant.
  • There is an emergency involving an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.
  • The person or an authorized third party has given consent.
  • The access is used only to identify a potential victim or unwitting conduit of malicious cyber activity.

• Foreign Intelligence Requirements: It prohibits queries unless they are reasonably likely to retrieve foreign intelligence information, with limited exceptions for the FBI regarding emergency threats or legal discovery obligations.

• Accountability and Documentation: It requires an electronic record for any authorized access and mandates that agency heads maintain a record system and report their compliance to Congress.