US Federal Court Rules Backdoor Searches of FISA Section 702 Data Unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that the federal government's method of searching through information incidentally collected on US-based individuals violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution.

"While communications of US persons may nonetheless be intercepted, incidentally or inadvertently, it would be paradoxical to permit warrantless searches of the same information that Section 702 is specifically designed to avoid collecting," the judge said, adding that "public interest alone does not justify warrantless querying."