A pair of lawmakers wants a watchdog agency to probe how the federal government hacks Americans, including with the use of spyware, and deliver a report to the public.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, wrote to the Government Accountability Office on Friday to request the review.
“While federal law enforcement agencies have used hacking and spyware as an investigative tool for more than 25 years, there exists little public information regarding its scope, frequency, or operational safeguards,” they wrote. “Unlike traditional surveillance authorities, such as wiretaps or pen registers, the government does not publish annual reports for hacking operations.”
The issue of U.S. government spyware usage has grown in prominence in President Donald Trump’s second term, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has acknowledged working with spyware firm Paragon. Lawmakers have been asking whether that’s the full extent of U.S. government reliance on spyware after the Biden administration largely shunned it.
But the Wyden and Casar letter is broader than just spyware. It also touches on the federal government’s acquisition of hacking tools, like those in the case of a former senior official at defense contractor L3Harris who was sentenced this year for stealing and selling capabilities developed for the federal government, and Rule 41 hacking powers.
The congressional duo asked GAO to review documented cases of federal law enforcement misusing hacking capabilities for personal or otherwise unauthorized reasons, and what kind of safeguards agencies have against hacking abuses.
“Spyware and other hacking tools grant expansive access to personal devices, including webcams, location data, stored files, and encrypted communications,” they wrote. “Unrestricted access to such invasive surveillance capabilities invites abuse by rogue agency personnel. Indeed, there are countless documented examples of government employees abusing other sensitive surveillance databases and tools for unauthorized personal purposes.”
They also asked GAO to review how agencies buy and protect sophisticated hacking tools, and how agencies make Rule 41 hacking requests to courts.
TechCrunch first reported on the letter from Wyden and Casar.
Casar is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, and Wyden has a long career of scrutinizing federal intelligence and surveillance efforts.