Websites, privacy advocates and tech companies participated Tuesday...

Websites, privacy advocates and tech companies participated Tuesday in a “day of activism in opposition to” the NSA’s “mass spying regime,” according to an event release (http://bit.ly/1iIWEdk). To coincide with “The Day We Fight Back,” Google Vice President-Public Policy Susan Molinari released a blog post calling for changes to government surveillance laws (http://bit.ly/1bJfCLT). Google urged Congress to pass the USA Freedom Act, which would put an end to the government’s bulk collection of telephone metadata. “But there’s more that can be done as we consider appropriate reforms to government surveillance laws,” Molinari said. “Congress should update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to require governmental entities to obtain a warrant before they can compel online companies to disclose the content of users’ communications.” Molinari pointed to Senate legislation from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and committee member Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and House legislation from Reps. Tom Graves, R-Ga., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., that would accomplish this goal. The Center for Democracy & Technology backed similar reforms in a Tuesday blog post from CDT Fellow on Privacy, Surveillance and Security Jake Laperruque (http://bit.ly/1fe9e00). CDT also urged opposition to the FISA Improvements Act, sponsored by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which would “codify existing surveillance practices into law,” Laperruque said.