WASHINGTON, D.C. — Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expired on Friday, halting a key surveillance authority. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court subsequently authorized surveillance activities to continue through next March.

The law grants intelligence agencies the authority to monitor communications of foreign individuals located outside of the U.S. Intelligence agencies typically identify foreign targets and direct U.S. companies to provide communications data including phone calls, emails, and text messages. Telecommunications companies and online providers, including AT&T, T-Mobile US, Verizon, and Alphabet Inc., assist in intelligence gathering.

Companies that refuse to comply with surveillance directives face fines. In 2008, the U.S. government won a court battle to force Yahoo Inc. into compliance with a similar request during a statutory lapse. Civil liberties advocates have criticized the surveillance program because information of U.S. citizens can be accessed without a warrant when those citizens are communicating with foreigners outside the U.S.

Senator Mark Warner said, "So far telecommunications companies are continuing to allow U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance of communication on their networks." Glenn Gerstell, former National Security Agency counsel, addressed potential risks to national security. "It seems like we are rolling the dice with national security. I am not saying it is going to result in disaster, but we are taking a chance." Gerstell said. He also noted the uncertainty regarding company compliance during such lapses, asking, "No one knows whether they will in fact sue or in fact slow walk a request. The question is, what are we going to miss?"

Senator Ruben Gallego said, "A lot of the prep work that is done ahead of time is going to be important. While FISA is important and we should make sure that we get it right, it is not going to hamper the capabilities of our domestic intelligence system to be able to keep people safe."