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US Freedom Act Violates Constitution's Fourth Amendment - NGO Head

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The USA Freedom Act violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, the president of the Downsize DC Foundation told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama signed into law the Freedom Act, a replacement for the George W. Bush-era Patriot Act, that allowed the mass surveillance of regular US citizens. The legislation has not entirely barred intelligence agencies from bulk data collection.

"The USA Freedom Act acts as if records that aren't in your personal possession are fair game. 'Lawful' should be based on the standard of the highest law of our land — specifically, the Fourth Amendment. Mere legislation or judicial opinions that contradict it are, in the truest sense, illegal," Jim Babka told Sputnik.

The US Freedom Act has now passed the Senate and is on its way to the White House. It rewrites some of the most controversial acts in the US Patriotic Act which was passed after 9/11. - Sputnik International
For Better or Worse: US Freedom Act Passed as Replacement to Patriot Act
He drew a parallel between the newly introduced legislation and the provisions of the US Patriot Act that served as a legal basis to justify the National Intelligence Agency’s (NSA) mass surveillance programs.

"The Fourth [Amendment] was, and still is a clear property-based right. In two recent Supreme Court cases, we've been able to bring back this understanding that you have an expectation to be secure in your person, your papers, your property, and your effects. But the USA Freedom Act is much like the Patriot Act where it assumes that these records do not belong to you," the head of the anti-big government movement argued.

The Freedom Act will end the bulk collection of phone records, but could be used to enable the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect information about certain individuals, if granted permission to do so by a federal court.

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