Surveillance technology has advanced so much that courts are struggling to define the point at which use of new forms of electronic surveillance constitutes "search and seizure" under the Fourth Amendment. Prior to being elected president, Obama had repeatedly promised to increase the governments sheerness and to provide more truth regarding the use of domestic surveillance. The supporters and opponents of surveillance programs both have expressed their surprise that the Obama administration maintained the surveillance programs that were launched before him by President George W. Bush at the …show more content…
In July 2008, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act, which basically legalized the government's surveillance programs for another four years. The FISA Amendments Act also granted legal immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in aiding the government's surveillance programs this basically protected them from any future lawsuits. Concern over domestic surveillance has continued during the Obama presidency. In 2011, Congress again renewed the Patriot Act, reinvigorating the debate over domestic surveillance. In March 2012, Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall wrote an open letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing their concern over ongoing surveillance programs. There is now a significant gap between what most Americans think the law allows and what the government secretly claims the law allows. In December 2012, Congress extended the FISA Amendments Acts for another five years, while also rejecting proposals from Senator Wyden and others to disclose more information to the public on how the law has been interpreted in regard to surveillance