FISA Section 702 is part of a US surveillance law. It lets agencies like the NSA collect communications from people outside the US, when a US company holds that data. Agencies do not need a warrant for each individual target. This law applies to many popular US cloud, email and communication tools. It is separate from the The CLOUD Act is a US law. It lets US authorities request data from US companies, even when the data sits on servers in Europe. Learn more → , which covers law enforcement requests rather than intelligence collection. Together, the two laws are a common reason European data hosted with US companies can be accessed by US authorities.
Frequently asked questions
What is FISA Section 702?
FISA 702 is part of a US surveillance law. It was added in 2008. It lets US intelligence agencies, mainly the NSA, collect communications from foreign targets. Those targets must be believed to be outside the US.
A 702 order is not approved case by case, like a normal warrant. Instead, a special court gives broad approval once a year. Agencies then use that approval to collect entire categories of foreign communications. No single named suspect is required.
Does FISA 702 affect people who aren't US citizens?
Yes. FISA 702 was written specifically for non-Americans. It targets people who are not US citizens or permanent residents. It also requires that these people are located outside the United States. It was never meant to cover Americans inside the US.
This matters for Europeans. If you use a US-based email, cloud storage, or messaging app, you fall into the exact group this law targets. You don't need to have done anything wrong. Your nationality and location are enough.
Is FISA 702 still in effect?
FISA 702 is not permanent. The law includes a sunset clause. This means Congress must vote to renew it every few years, or it expires. Congress has renewed it several times since 2008. The most recent renewal passed in 2024, for several more years.
The law depends on these regular votes. Its future is never fully settled. Anyone who needs a legal answer, not just background, should check its current status directly, since Congress could let it lapse or change it later.
What is the difference between FISA 702 and the CLOUD Act?
FISA 702 is a surveillance law. Intelligence agencies use it to collect foreign communications in bulk. It works through broad, court-approved programs. It does not use individual warrants. Its goal is intelligence gathering, not solving one specific crime.
The CLOUD Act works differently. It is a law enforcement tool. US authorities use it to request specific data for a specific criminal case. It applies to any company under US jurisdiction, wherever that company stores its data. The two laws serve different goals. But both can give the US government access to data held by a US company.