https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/18/section-702-renewal-congress-senate-fisa/

After debate ended in a close cloture vote on Tuesday, the Senate has voted to pass a bill that will renew one of the NSA’s most controversial practices for another six years. The bill, known as the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 or S.139, provides for an extension of the U.S. government’s practice of collecting the private communications of American citizens when they are to communicating with a foreign target. The six year renewal passed in a 65-34 vote.

Over the course of its long path toward renewal, the bill faced vocal opposition from privacy advocates. Many argue that Section 702 violates the Fourth Amendment’s provision forbidding unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant. The bill’s supporters contend that it is “one of the U.S. government’s most important counterterrorism and counterintelligence tools” — and Congress appears to agree. Last year, in a rare win for anti-surveillance activists, the NSA announced that it would end the most controversial part of the already very controversial practice  — the one that allowed it to surveil Americans who even mentioned foreign targets (this is known as “about” collection).