USA RIGHTS Act of 2017

Uniting and Strengthening America by Reforming and Improving the Government's High-Tech Surveillance Act of 2017 or the USA RIGHTS Act of 2017

This bill amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to:

• require a warrant to collect communications of or about a U.S. person or a person inside the United States;
• require a warrant when a significant purpose of targeting foreigners is to collect communications of persons in the United States;
• prohibit the use of communications to or from, or information about, U.S. persons or persons in the United States in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding or investigation, with the exception of national security-related crimes;
• allow individuals who have a reasonable basis to believe their communications will be acquired and who have taken reasonable steps to avoid surveillance to challenge the constitutionality of surveillance in court; and
• require that all forms of technical assistance demanded by the government of electronic communications service providers be approved by a FISA court.

The bill expands the mandate of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to include review of all foreign intelligence activities and whistle-blower complaints.

The bill extends the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to September 30, 2021.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov