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AT&T informs users of data breach and resets millions of passcodes

What was behind the massive AT&T outage

A look at what caused the massive AT&T outage nationwide

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AT&T said it has begun notifying millions of customers about the theft of personal data recently discovered online.

The telecommunications giant said Saturday that a dataset found on the “dark web” contains information such as Social Security numbers for about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former account holders.

The company said it has already reset the passcodes of current users and will be communicating with account holders whose sensitive personal information was compromised.

It is not known if the data “originated from AT&T or one of its vendors,” the company said in a statement. The compromised data is from 2019 or earlier and does not appear to include financial information or call history, it said. In addition to passcodes and Social Security numbers, it may include email and mailing addresses, phone numbers and birth dates.

It is not the first crisis this year for the Dallas-based company.

New York prosecutors said they are opening an investigation into a wireless network outage in February that left thousands of AT&T customers across the U.S. without cellphone service for roughly 12 hours.

The outage, which also affected some Consumer Cellular, T-Mobile, UScellular and Verizon subscribers, led to widespread frustration by phone users and briefly disrupted 911 service in some communities.

AT&T apologized for the network disruption and offered a $5 credit to customers.

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AT&T investigating leak that dumped millions of customers’ data on dark web

AT&T is investigating a leak earlier this month that dumped millions of customers’ data, including personal information such as social security numbers, on the dark web.

The company said the leak happened roughly two weeks ago and it launched “a robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts.”

“Based on our preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier,” AT&T said in a statement Saturday.

It affects about 7.6 million current customers and about 65.4 million former customers.

AT&T said it is looking into whether “the data in those fields originated from AT&T or one of its vendors.” Currently, the company does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in exfiltration of the data set.

The telecommunications company, one of the most popular wireless carriers, said it is reaching out to the customers affected and has reset their passcodes. They are also offering free credit monitoring through Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

“As of today, this incident has not had a material impact on AT&T’s operations,” the company said.

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UK greenhouse gas emissions fell 5.4% in 2023: data

UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5.4 percent in 2023, largely due to a reduction in the amount of gas used in power stations, according to official data published on Thursday.

Net emissions of all greenhouse gases were estimated to have been 384.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023, compared to 406.2 million tonnes in 2022, the government’s provisional figures showed.

Carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 6.6 percent annually to 302.8 million tonnes, part of a 52.7-percent decrease in total greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

Gas use for electricity generation fell 21.1 percent in 2023, “primarily due to higher electricity imports from France, as well as UK electricity demand continuing to decline”, said the report.

The reduced demand is mainly due to “greater efficiency resulting from improvements in technology and a decline in the relative importance of energy-intensive industries”, it added.

High energy prices are also likely to have been a factor, with less fuel being used to heat buildings and by industry, said the report.

Nuclear and renewables accounted for 56.7 percent of fuel used for electricity generation in 2023, up from 22.2 percent in 1990.

Domestic transport remained the largest source of UK emissions, accounting for 29.1 percent in 2023, almost all of which are from carbon dioxide, the main source being the use of petrol and diesel in road vehicles.

However, the sector’s emissions decreased by 1.4 percent in 2023, the first fall since 2020 when travel was heavily restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Germany in January reported a 9.8 percent fall in carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 due to the sharp decline in coal consumption and crisis in its industrial sector.

And France last week said its domestic greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 4.8 percent over the same period.

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Trump’s claims on crime rates clash with police data

Surging crime levels, out-of-control Democratic cities and “migrant crime.”

Former President Donald Trump regularly cites all three at his campaign rallies, in news releases and on Truth Social, often saying President Joe Biden and Democrats are to blame.

But the crime picture Trump paints contrasts sharply with years of police and government data at both the local and national levels.

FBI statistics released this year suggested a steep drop in crime across the country last year. It’s a similar story across major cities, with violent crime down year over year in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

NBC News analyzed crime data to evaluate Trump’s assertions about the topic.

U.S. and big city crime rates

Trump’s campaign often refers to crime levels, regularly pointing the finger at Biden.

“On Joe Biden’s watch, violent crime has skyrocketed in virtually every American city,” the campaign said in a news release published this month on its site.

Trump himself has made similar remarks.

“Four years ago, I told you that if crooked Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished, our middle class would be decimated and our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime,” Trump said in a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “We were right about everything.”

Government figures don’t support that characterization.

Reported violent crime dropped 6% across the board when comparing the last three months of 2022 to the same period in 2023, the FBI reported.

The reported drops were especially pronounced in the big cities that Trump often assails, many of which have Democratic mayors. Violent crime dropped by 11% in cities with populations of 1 million or more, according to FBI data, while murders dropped by 20%, rape was down 16%, and aggravated assault fell by 11%.

Reached for comment, the Trump campaign pointed to other reports indicating that certain types of crimes increased in specific cities.

At the national level, the reported rate of violent crime in 2022, the most recent full year with comprehensive FBI data, was 380.7 offenses per 100,000 people. That’s lower than the overall reported violent crime rate from 2020 — the last full year Trump was in office — when the figure was at 398.5.

The lowest reported violent crime rate of Trump’s presidency was in 2019, when the metric was at 380.8 — in line with the 2022 rate.

The FBI said it will release more comprehensive 2023 crime data in October, just before the election.

The Trump campaign, reached for comment, cited certain categories of violent crime, such as motor vehicle theft, as having increased during the Biden administration, according to FBI figures.

“Joe Biden is trying to convince Americans not to believe their own eyes,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding that “Democrats have turned great American cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime.”

New York City crime

Trump, who was born and raised in New York but now lives in Florida, often rails against what he portrays as an increasing crime rate in his former hometown.

Those references to soaring violence have only increased as he faces criminal charges in New York accusing him of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in that case, must also post a $175 million bond to prevent state Attorney General Letitia James from collecting the judgment from a New York civil fraud case.

“I did nothing wrong, and New York should never be put in a position like this again,” Trump posted on Truth Social about the civil judgment in all capital letters. “Businesses are fleeing, violent crime is flourishing, and it is very important that this be resolved in its totality as soon as possible.”

In a separate post, he claimed that “murders & violent crime hit unimaginable records” in the city.

However, major crimes in New York City are down this year by 2.3%, according to police department data comparing year-to-date figures to the same period in 2023.

Those figures for last year were also far below the highs from recent decades. In 1990, more than 527,000 major crimes were reported, compared to more than 126,000 last year, according to New York police data — a drop of more than 75%.

In 2001, more than 162,000 major crimes were reported in New York. The figure dropped by more than 20% over the next two decades.

At the same time, New York City data indicates that the number of major crimes increased in the past few years, though reported violent crimes like murder and rape were down last year from previous years.

‘Migrant crime’

Trump’s dehumanizing language about migrants has become a mainstay of his political speeches since he first sought office in 2015.

In a news release this month, his campaign said the “border Crisis has created a tragic surge in violent crime against innocent American citizens at the hands of some of the world’s most violent criminals.”

Trump has also focused his energy on high-profile cases such as the death of Laken Riley, who was killed in Georgia while jogging. The suspect is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022.

“Every day, innocent citizens are being killed, stabbed, shot, raped and murdered because of Biden migrant crime,” Trump said in a video posted to his campaign’s X account last week.

However, there is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the U.S., according to local police department data.

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What to know about protecting your car data privacy

How to protect your data privacy in your vehicle

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(CBS DETROIT) – Reports claim that our vehicles may be collecting vast amounts of our personal data, information that could be shared with advertisers, data brokers, insurance companies and beyond.

To protect your data, privacy experts say you could consider holding off on getting all the connected extras that come with new vehicles.

“Delete the app or don’t download the app. If you buy a new car and the dealer tries to pressure you to download the app or sign up for the connected services, don’t do that. You can do that at any time later, so you’ll be able to go home and do your research before you sign up for that,” said Jen Caltrider, the program director at the Mozilla Foundation’s “Privacy Not Included.”

She said for that car already in your driveway, it can be harder to limit what data it can collect about you.

“There’s no option when you get your car to say, ‘I only want data collection done for safety reasons. And any other data that you can collect, please don’t collect, please don’t monetize, delete it.’ That’s usually not an option for the cars we reviewed.”

Some car companies do allow consumers to adjust connectivity settings, and drivers can read about how in their car’s privacy policy. But opting out of all data sharing isn’t always possible.

“A lot of times, you can’t. If you try and disable some of the cellular data sharing or Wi-Fi data sharing, it may void your warranty,” said Caltrider.

Caltrider said drivers could try requesting their data be deleted, but that depends on the type of car and your state’s privacy laws. She said that is why strong consumer federal privacy laws are needed.

“The fact that our cars no longer mean independence, and freedom, and privacy. You can’t sing at the top of the lungs anymore without somebody watching you. Or have that private conversation with your child. Or make out in the back seat. Or drive somewhere as a teenager, knowing that you’re not being tracked. I don’t think that that’s good for us as a society. I think that yes, maybe in some ways we’re safer, but in a lot of ways we’re also doing ourselves harm.”

And she said all the data collection we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg.

“There’s actually companies out there that are working on technology to use those in cameras cars to try and learn our emotions. Under the guise of ‘we want to build an empathetic car that can know how you’re reacting to this song or driving by this building. Or things like that can tell your mood or know your emotions.”

Reading through your car’s privacy policy could be a good first step in understanding what data is being collected. But it’s not just your car. Your radio apps, GPS, and On-Star services all have their own privacy and data collection policies.

Caltrider said new technology is far outpacing privacy law. While there are no federal data privacy laws, some states have passed comprehensive privacy legislation. Michigan is not one of them, though it does have more narrow consumer privacy laws in effect.

Kelly Vaughen

Kelly Vaughen is a reporter and weekend evening anchor for CBS News Detroit. She is thrilled to make Michigan her home!

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Sexually transmitted infection rates rose among older people, CDC data shows

Sexually transmitted infections are becoming more common in older adults.

Rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in people ages 55 and up more than doubled in the U.S. over the 10-year period from 2012 to 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of syphilis cases among people ages 55 and up increased seven-fold during those 10 years, while gonorrhea cases increased nearly five-fold and chlamydia cases more than tripled during that time.

A presentation to be delivered Thursday — part of a lead-up event to the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases next month — warns that both doctors and older adults are overlooking the risks of STIs in this age group.

“We talk about smoking, we talk about diet, exercise, so many things, and not about sex at all,” said Justyna Kowalska, the author of the presentation and a professor of medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw.

The issue is not limited to the U.S. In England, surveillance data published in 2022 suggested that STI diagnoses rose 22% from 2014 to 2019 among people ages 45 and up. Chlamydia was the most common, followed by gonorrhea.

Kowalska pointed to a few factors that may be driving up STI rates among older adults.

For one, people are living longer compared to past generations and enjoying more active lifestyles in their 60s, 70s and 80s. For many, that includes sex. A 2018 survey from AARP and the University of Michigan estimated that 40% of people ages 65 to 80 are sexually active, and nearly two-thirds are interested in sex.

Hormone replacement therapy, which can treat symptoms of menopause, can prolong sexual desire in older women, while erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra can help older men remain sexually active.

But older adults may not have gotten the type of sex education provided to teenagers today, according to Matthew Lee Smith, an associate professor at the Texas A&M School of Public Health.

“Back in the ’30s, the ’40s, the ’50s, traditional school wasn’t really doing sexual education very formally,” said Smith, who studies behavioral health risks in older adults.

Smith’s research has shown that older adults lack some knowledge about STI transmission, symptoms and prevention.

He said doctors can be sheepish about asking older patients about their sexual activity, and older people often aren’t inclined to discuss their sex lives with peers or family members.

“No one wants to think about grandma doing this,” Smith said. “You certainly aren’t going to ask grandma if she was wearing condoms — and that’s part of the problem, because every individual regardless of age has the right to intimacy.”

Some older men may struggle with condom use, Smith said, either because of a lack of dexterity or erectile dysfunction.

What’s more, he added, many older adults married at a younger age than is typical now and only had one sexual partner until they divorced or were widowed. So some might not think to use a condom, Smith said — especially since pregnancy isn’t a concern.

Nursing homes also create opportunities for new sexual partners. The results of a U.S. survey of nursing home directors, published in 2016, found that sexual activity was common in these settings, which often have more female than male residents.

“In the heterosexual, older adult community, there’s a partner gap: Women live longer than men and there’s a larger proportion of females to men,” Smith said. “What it can lead to oftentimes is multiple partners and sharing of partners.”

Though STIs pose health risks to all age groups, older people may have a harder time clearing infections or be more susceptible to contracting them in the first place, medical experts said.

“The immune system is weaker, so you can get an infection easier, but there’s other physical things related to just sexual intimacy that make one more susceptible,” said Ethan Morgan, an assistant professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Among women who are postmenopausal, for instance, the vaginal lining is more prone to tearing, which makes it easier for an infection to occur.

The experts stressed that doctors need to do a better job of discussing safe sex with older patients.

“We want them to have their best life,” Smith said, “but we want them to have it safely.”

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China blamed for UK voter data hack

The UK government is set to accuse China of stealing UK voter data in an attack that took place in August 2021.

The Electoral Commission (EC) suffered a breach after “hostile actors” stole copies of electoral registers. The EC states that the attack had no effect on elections or individuals’ electoral registration status.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to lay the blame squarely on Beijing-backed when he addresses Parliament, according to BBC News.

Attacks and interference expected to increase as election looms

In Downden’s address to parliament, the deputy prime minister is expected to link the EC attack to a wider threat perpetrated by state-backed groups.

According to the BBC, other western nations are also set to lay out their concerns. German politicians recently suffered a number of high profile phishing attacks linked to Russian-sponsored groups.

“Stop spreading false information and take a responsible attitude to jointly maintain peace and security in cyberspace,” was the response from Lin Jian, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, as he addressed the potential involvement of Beijing further stating that the government does not tolerate malicious cyber activities.

A number of members of Parliament have been targeted in China-linked cyber attacks are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China – a body that regularly criticizes the policies and activities of China.

The UK is expected to hold a general election in the second half of 2024, and there is trepidation that malicious actors could seek to influence or disrupt the outcome through misinformation campaigns and cyber attacks.

Several key public institutions, including the MoD, have critical cybersecurity flaws and are increasingly ineffective in responding to breaches and vulnerability exploitation.

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3D printer constructs stunning data center hands-free in 140 hours

In the heart of Germany, a groundbreaking project has emerged, marrying the worlds of technology and architecture in a way never seen before.

The Wave House, a new data center located in an urban area of Heidelberg, stands as a testament to innovation, being Europe’s largest 3D-printed building to date.

Data centers, the backbone of our digital lives, are often relegated to nondescript, windowless buildings due to security and operational requirements. However, the push to bring these essential facilities closer to urban centers demanded a rethink in their design approach.

MORE: THE DIZZYING VIEWS FROM THIS ENTIRE GLASS HOUSE ROTATING 360 DEGREES

Enter the Wave House, which challenges the status quo with its visually arresting wave-designed walls — a feature that not only lends the building its name but also marks a significant departure from conventional data center aesthetics. It measures 6,600 sq. ft. and was designed by SSV and Mense Korte and created by Peri 3D Construction for developer KrausGruppe.

FISH FILET CREATED VIA 3D PRINTER MAY BE HITTING MARKET IN THE NEAR FUTURE

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The distinctive curvature of the Wave House’s walls could not have been achieved through traditional building methods. Instead, the project leveraged 3D construction printing technology, specifically the COBOD BOD2 printer.

This machine pushed out a recyclable cement-like mixture to form the building’s exterior. Achieving an impressive rate of 43 square feet per hour, the printer completed the walls in just 140 hours, demonstrating the efficiency and versatility of 3D printing in modern construction.

MORE: A BIRDHOUSE-INSPIRED TINY HOUSE NESTLED IN NATURE THAT RUNS ON SOLAR POWER

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, the Wave House represents a stride forward in sustainable building practices. The 3D-printed construction process emits significantly less CO2 compared to traditional methods, aligning with global efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of new developments.

Furthermore, the project showcases the potential for reducing costs and construction times, making it a compelling case study for future urban planning initiatives.

MORE: HOW THIS TINY HOUSE FLIPS ITS DESIGN WITH UPSIDE DOWN LAYOUT

A milestone for 3D-printed architecture

The inauguration of the Wave House not only marks a significant advancement for the construction industry but also signals the growing acceptance of 3D-printed architecture in mainstream applications. From earthquake-resistant homes to ambitious developments of 100 3D-printed houses, the technology is proving its worth across a diverse range of projects.

COBOD, the company behind the technology, aims to automate at least 50% of building site processes, promising efficiency gains and potentially reshaping the labor landscape in construction.

The Wave House in Heidelberg is more than just a data center; it’s a symbol of architectural innovation and a showcase for the potential of 3D printing in construction. By blending functionality with style, the project addresses the evolving needs of urban infrastructure and sets a new standard for data centers worldwide. As 3D printing technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more projects that challenge traditional architectural norms, offering sustainable, efficient and visually compelling solutions for the cities of tomorrow.

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Original article source: 3D printer constructs stunning data center hands-free in 140 hours

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Zoom responds to privacy concerns raised by AI data collection

The videoconferencing app Zoom said Monday it won’t use customers’ data without their consent to train artificial intelligence, addressing privacy concerns of a growing number of customers over new language in the app’s terms of service.

In Section 10.4 of Zoom’s terms of service, updated in March, users agree to “grant Zoom a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license” for various purposes, including “machine learning, artificial intelligence, training, testing, improvement of the Services, Software, or Zoom’s other products, services, and software, or any combination thereof.”

An article Sunday from Stack Diary, a tech publication, highlighted the updated terms, sparking concerns.

Among the ways Zoom now uses AI are the Zoom IQ Meeting Summary, which provides automated meeting summaries, and services like automated scanning of webinar invitations to detect spam activity, Chief Product Officer Smita Hashim said in a blog post Monday.

The blog post emphasized that meeting administrators can opt out of sharing meeting summaries data with Zoom. Non-administrator meeting members are notified about Zoom’s new data-sharing policies and are given the option to accept or leave meetings.

“Zoom customers decide whether to enable generative AI features, and separately whether to share customer content with Zoom for product improvement purposes,” a Zoom spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve updated our terms of service to further confirm that we will not use audio, video, or chat customer content to train our artificial intelligence models without your consent.”

But data privacy advocates and some Zoom users are sounding the alarm and say the new language needs to be revised. Some users said they would cancel their Zoom accounts, while others demanded that Zoom change its terms or offer everyone, not just meeting administrators, the option to opt out of the use of their data for AI training. It is optional to use Zoom’s AI features, which would trigger the data collection.

Despite the company’s statement about the update, users still expressed concern online.

The criticism underscores the growing public scrutiny of AI, specifically concerns over how people’s data and content could be used to train AI large language models without their consent or without their receiving compensation.

Janet Haven, the executive director of Data & Society, a nonprofit research institute, and a member of the National AI Initiative advisory committee, said concerns over the emerging tech go beyond Zoom’s terms of service and represent long-standing concerns over data privacy.

“I think that the fundamental issue is that we don’t have those protections in law as a society in place and in a kind of robust way, which means that people are being asked to react at the individual level. And so that is the real problem with terms of service,” Haven said.

Aric Toler, the director of training and research at Bellingcat, an open-source research publication, said Bellingcat would no longer use Zoom Pro, a subscription that costs $149.90 annually per user, even after Zoom reassured users it wouldn’t use customer data without consent.

“Even if the current constraints of the terms of service keep the AI training to data from only opting in, it’s still worrying enough that it’s better that we divorce from them now rather than later when there are further, worrying developments,” Toler said.

Bellingcat relied on Zoom to host training workshops and webinars for hundreds of journalists, researchers and students, Toler said. He said Bellingcat would look to other video communication platforms, such as Jitsi Meet, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and review their data policies.

Toler’s sentiments were echoed across social media, which Haven said reflects “a growing societal understanding of the lack of protections for comprehensive data privacy that we have in law.”

Gabriella Coleman, an anthropology professor at Harvard University and a faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said in a post with 1.3 million views on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, “Well time to retire @Zoom, who is basically wants to use/abuse you to train their AI,” in response to the Stack Diary article.

In another post on X, writer and director Justine Bateman wrote that she would never “use @Zoom again” until the company changes its updated terms that allow it to use customer content and data to train AI.

Haven said the reaction from Zoom customers isn’t unexpected, given the lack of data protection laws and regulations about AI.

“Regardless of what Zoom’s clarification was, I think what that really raised in the public discourse was the level of discomfort that so many people have in recognizing that our laws don’t protect us against any kind of misuse of our data,” Haven said.

Bogdana Rakova, a senior trustworthy AI fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit group that publishes research projects about AI, said there should be more transparency and public discourse about how AI is being integrated in companies’ products and services.

Rakova said people don’t pay attention to terms of service and aren’t always notified when they are changed. Zoom’s terms of service were changed in March and became effective July 27.

“These are documents that are intentionally written in a way that no sane human will spend their time looking at them,” Rakova said. “It’s not clear when people are notified about changes, and this makes it very complex for consumers and puts the burden on consumers to single-handedly navigate this. It’s extremely challenging.”

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The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI should stop using a U.S. spy database of foreigners’ emails and other communications for investigating crimes that aren’t related to national security, a group of White House intelligence advisers recommended in a report released Monday.

The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board’s findings come as the White House pushes Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before its expiration at the end of this year. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats.

But spy agencies also end up capturing the communications of U.S. citizens and businesses, and a series of intelligence mistakes at the FBI has fanned bipartisan criticism of the bureau that has shaped the debate over renewing the law. Some lawmakers in both parties and civil liberties groups have called for stronger curbs on how the FBI uses foreign surveillance to search for Americans’ data.

While the White House did not commit to accepting the recommended changes, administration officials on Monday praised the board’s work and again called on Congress to reauthorize the surveillance program. The board argues in its report that Section 702 is critical to U.S. national security and suggests that allowing the program to lapse would be an “intelligence failure” and a step backward from changes made after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The board says the FBI made “inappropriate use” at times of Section 702 information. Those include queries for a U.S. senator and state senator’s names without properly limiting the search, looking for someone believed to have been at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and doing large queries of names of protesters following the 2020 death of George Floyd.

“Unfortunately, complacency, a lack of proper procedures, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity led to FBI’s inappropriate use of Section 702 authorities, specifically U.S. person queries,” the board said in its report. “U.S. person queries” generally mean searches for U.S. citizens and businesses.

The board recommends the FBI no longer search the data when it is seeking evidence of a crime not related to national security. Currently, the FBI conducts fewer than two dozen such searches a year, a senior administration official told reporters Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

The White House has not decided whether it will accept the recommendation but is studying the board’s work and report, the official said.

The board’s report largely lines up with the White House’s positions on other changes being debated in Congress. The board opposed requiring the FBI to obtain a warrant before it searches Section 702 data, saying that change would be impractical. It also says the FBI needs to maintain access to foreign spy collection because unlike other intelligence agencies, it has law enforcement authorities inside the U.S. and can warn Americans that they are being targeted by foreign spies or criminals.

Already, both Republicans and Democrats have called for broader changes affecting the FBI, including a handful of lawmakers in both parties who want to require warrants for any search.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sharply questioned Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen in June about how it searches Section 702 data and signaled he would push for new protections.

“I don’t think you’ve effectively made the case that there shouldn’t be a warrant requirement, whether or not it is constitutionally required, for a U.S. person search that is crime only,” he said.

Many in the GOP, meanwhile, are furious about the FBI’s investigations of former President Donald Trump and mistakes found by the Justice Department inspector general and other reviewers.

In a statement, the FBI said the report highlighted “how crucial” foreign intelligence was to the bureau’s mission.

“We agree that Section 702 should be reauthorized in a manner that does not diminish its effectiveness, as well as reassures the public of its importance and our ability to adhere rigorously to all relevant rules,” the bureau’s statement said.

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