Summary#
This bill, the Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026, changes many rules about how federal agencies and the intelligence community collect, query, keep, and use communications and related data. Key changes include new limits on warrantless queries and targeting of people who are United States persons or are located in the United States; a requirement that collection aimed at such people generally be supported by a warrant; five-year retention limits for many types of collected information unless specific exceptions apply; increased court supervision of technical assistance demands to companies; new reporting and transparency requirements; appointment and expanded access for amici curiae to assist the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court; audits and Inspector General oversight of FISA orders; a ban on Federal law enforcement buying personal data from commercial data brokers in most cases; updates to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require warrants for location data, web browsing records, and many stored communications; and protections for vehicle data.
What it means for you#
- If you are a United States person or are located in the United States, the bill generally limits when the government can run searches (queries) of collected communications about you. Those searches are allowed only in narrow circumstances or with a warrant, or when specific exceptions apply (for example, emergencies, consent, or certain defensive cybersecurity actions).
- Agencies must create and keep electronic records for each query and access. Records must show who ran the query, when, the search terms, and why the query was reasonably likely to find foreign intelligence or which exception applied.
- Many categories of collected information about covered persons that are not known to contain foreign intelligence must be destroyed within five years, unless they are preserved for litigation or active investigations meeting defined criteria.
- The bill tightens when the government may target people abroad to get information about a particular known U.S. person (often called "reverse targeting"). Such targeting is allowed only in narrow emergency or consent situations and must be reported to the court and Congress when used.
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act changes mean law enforcement generally needs a warrant to get historical location data, web browsing records, search query records, and most contents of communications in storage. The bill also changes rules about subpoenas, tracking devices, and disclosures by service providers.
- Federal law enforcement is generally barred from purchasing covered personal data from data brokers, with some narrow exceptions (for example, certain public data, employment checks, whistleblower programs, or compulsory legal process).
- The bill requires more audits, reporting, and some public release of court opinions and intelligence community reports. It also creates stronger internal accountability steps for employee violations at certain agencies.
Expenses#
No publicly available information on the bill's estimated costs, budgetary offsets, or appropriations in the provided text.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information in the bill text or metadata describing proponents' statements or arguments for the bill.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information in the bill text or metadata describing opponents' statements or arguments against the bill.