US Lawmakers Move to Kill the FBI’s Warrantless Wiretap Access

A batch of Wired Security reports highlights an escalation in state-level and commercial surveillance, cyberwar, and privacy controversies. US lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill to force the FBI to obtain warrants and to ban federal purchase of commercial data on US residents; DHS removed privacy officers who challenged record-handling; and CBP reportedly used online ad data to geolocate phones. In the Middle East and beyond, Iran-linked cyber operations and hacktivist groups (notably “Handala”) have been tied to disruptive attacks — including exploitation of security cameras, large-scale