New Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform Act

Today, September 26,^th,The Guardian's Paul Lewis reports on a new piece of legislation introduced in the Senate, a bi-partisan effort named The Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform Act. It “is the most comprehensive package of surveillance reforms presented to the Senate so far. It merges competing legislative proposals announced by various senators before the summer recess, and cherry-picks from ideas contained in a dozen other draft bills that surfaced in both the Senate and House of Representatives, following disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden.”
This bill may see success because of the issue's unique ability to unite democrats and republicans; Senators Wyden, Udall, Blumenthal, and Rand presented the bill which strives to:
Ban the mass collection of phone-record data: The bill would only allow mass collection of data in case of a massive emergency and only from a specific person if he or she is suspected of terrorism or espionage. This ban would not apply to non-citizens.

Ban the collection of internet communication data: Apparently the NSA has already begun to limit this type of mass collection, but the bill would dismantle the “legal framework” that allows it (leaving a loophole for emergencies).

Close search loopholes: “...the bill closes the loopholes that would potentially permit intelligence officials to search wholly domestic American communications that have been swept up in the dragnet, authorised under section 702 of the Fisa Amendment Act, which is intended for targeting foreigners. This section of the bill essentially cleans up this area of law, ensuring that the NSA and partner bodies would need to obtain warrants and prove terrorist connections before searching for communications of US citizens or people residing in the US.”

Reform the surveillance court: “One frequent complaint regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (known as the Fisa court) is that the bias is built into the system, with judges, whose rulings are not released, only ever hearing the government's case for warrant applications.

The bill seeks to redress that imbalance, inserting some degree of adversarial process into the Fisa court's proceedings, but only in significant or precedent-setting cases. To do so, it would appoint a "constitutional advocate", independent from the executive branch, to serve as a watchdog in important cases – although legal arguments would still be classified, taking place behind closed doors. The advocate would be appointed by the chief justice, choosing from a shortlist created by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a body that will be mandated by statute to nominate attorneys who would be "zealous and effective advocates in defense of civil liberties".
This article is important and relevant to us all, not just as journalists, but as citizens. I don't want to hold my breath, but this type of bi-partisan legislation is what we need as the world continues to change in the information age. I hope this bill doesn't get pushed aside as the budget debates loom over us.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/26/nasa-curiosity-rover-mars-soil-water