In a major win for privacy advocates, a court has ruled that the FBI’s searches without warrants violated the Fourth Amendment. The decision has reignited demands for changes to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows intelligence agencies to collect communications from non-Americans overseas but has often swept up data belonging to U.S. citizens.

The court acknowledged that there might be rare cases where getting a warrant isn’t practical, but it emphasized that the government can’t bypass privacy protections whenever it feels like it. Digital rights groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), praised the ruling. They’ve long argued that Section 702 has been abused to spy on Americans without proper oversight.

Section 702 is set to expire in April 2026, and advocates are pushing Congress to use this opportunity to add a warrant requirement. “This ruling should be a wake-up call,” the EFF stated in a blog post. “Congress must reform Section 702 to protect our constitutional rights.” The group highlighted how the law has been used to conduct “backdoor searches” on Americans, including protesters, journalists, and even members of Congress.

The ACLU echoed these concerns, calling Section 702 “one of the most abused provisions of FISA.” Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, stressed that the FBI’s unchecked surveillance is a serious invasion of privacy. “This ruling underscores why Congress must act now to fix this broken system,” he said.

With the clock ticking on Section 702’s expiration, privacy advocates are hopeful this decision will spur meaningful change. For now, the ruling serves as a reminder that even in the digital age, the Fourth Amendment still matters.