Security Efforts to Weaken as Patriot Act Provisions Expire; Is the US Less Safe?

The anti-terrorism security efforts will wane as the Senate failed to save the three key parts of the Patriot Act during a session on Sunday.

The senate on Sunday haven't reached an agreement to extend the Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which is set to expire at midnight. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, didn't allow the extension of the key provisions by not further advancing the USA Freedom Act, which is set to supposedly act as an alternative.

The government would no longer be able to use a number of tools to counter terrorism by not passing the said provision. One of which is the spying of the telephone records of millions of Americans suspected of any terrorist activity. The recorded massive collection of telephone data has been stored since at least 2006.

Due to the failure to pass the USA Freedom Act, one of the government's stunts to do a process called "roving wire taps" will be stopped. This process makes it easier for law enforcement to tap the phones of a suspected terrorist if they are discarding telephones or moving from one device to another, the Wall Street Journal notes.

Even with the expiration of the said three provisions, the government still holds the power to access telephone records. However, it would require a grand-jury permission to begin a new surveillance program on each telephone or device.

Additionally, security officials are still allowed to continue using the Section 215 of the Patriot Act and the "roving wire taps" provision in investigations they began before the expiration date, which commences on June 1. Any probes after the said expiration date would necessitate a petition for approval to the FISA court.

The 83rd and current Attorney General of the United States, Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch said this week that the United States would face a gap in the national security, CNN reports.

Though with the "risky" security, the American Civil Liberties Union insisted on Thursday that the provisions of the Patriot Act wouldn't make a difference to combat terrorism and that there are other tools to aid the government to gather necessary information.