Congress allows mass hacking by government
By Erin Kelly, USA Today
WASHINGTON — In a defeat for privacy advocates, Senate leaders rebuffed a last-ditch effort by a bipartisan group of senators to allow a vote to block a new rule that allows federal agents armed with a single search warrant to hack millions of Americans’ computers or smartphones at once.
That rule took effect Thursday.
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Chris Coons, D-Del., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., took to the Senate floor to seek agreement to bring up bills to stop the rule from taking effect or at least delay it for three to six months to give Congress more time to study it. Republican Senate leaders denied the three senators’ requests for a vote.