FISA Section 702 Expires April 20: Can the Government Read Your Texts Without a Warrant?

# FISA Section 702 Expires April 20: Can the Government Read Your Texts Without a Warrant?

> **Quick answer:** FISA Section 702 is the law that lets U.S. intelligence agencies collect communications from foreign targets — but it also captures Americans' messages in the process. It expires April 20, 2026. The House passed an 18-month clean extension on April 16 without requiring a warrant to search Americans' data. The Senate must act before Sunday or a critical intelligence program goes dark. FBI searches of Americans under this authority rose 35% in 2025.

America's most powerful surveillance law expires in four days, and Congress is in a race to keep it alive. FISA Section 702 — which the FBI and intelligence community use to monitor foreign threats — has a legal deadline of April 20, 2026. What makes it controversial: it also sweeps up the emails, texts, and calls of ordinary Americans, and federal agents can search that data without a warrant.

## What Is FISA Section 702? (Explained Simply)

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications from **non-U.S. persons located abroad** — think foreign terrorists, spies, weapons traffickers — by compelling American tech companies and telecom providers to hand over the data.

The problem: when a foreign target communicates with an American citizen, that American's messages get collected too. These are called "incidental collections." Under current law, the FBI can then search those incidentally-collected American communications without a warrant in a process civil liberties groups call a **"backdoor search."**