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US Senators vote to defeat amendment that could have protected internet search history

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- U.S. Senators have defeated an amendment that could have protected your internet search history from a warrantless search.

Thursday, 59 U.S. Senators, including Colorado senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, voted for Senate Amendment 1583.

The amendment was just one vote shy of getting added to the Foreign Intelligence Search Act that is now back in the hands of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Amendment 1583 is among three amendments senators were trying to add under the FISA Act after three other authorities expired in March.

Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana, a sponsor of the amendment, said in his testimony Thursday the act, "simply requires our intelligence agencies to abide by the Constitution and work within our Nation's laws, which means requesting a probable cause warrant to get this type of information."

Supporters of the amendment argue Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows government entities to look through records, like internet search history, without proper guidelines.

Amie Stepanovich, the head of technology law clinic Silicon Flatirons at the University of Colorado Law School, explains the amendment would have, "made it clearly not possible to collect this type of record on U.S. persons without a warrant."

Of the three amendments proposed for the FISA Act, only one is getting added to the draft. The Act is headed to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Stepanovich explains a house member could speak up and ask for an amendment similar to Senator Daines' version.

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