Six US Senators Warn That Using a VPN Could Strip Americans of Warrantless Surveillance Protections

Six Democratic lawmakers led by Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren have asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to clarify whether Americans who use commercial VPN services may inadvertently lose their constitutional protections against warrantless government surveillance.

The concern centers on a documented NSA targeting presumption: when a person's location is unknown, they are presumed to be a non-US person. Because VPNs route traffic through servers that commingle users from many countries, an American connected to a VPN server in Amsterdam would be indistinguishable from a Dutch citizen to intelligence agencies collecting communications in bulk.

The irony is stark — multiple US agencies including the FBI, NSA, and FTC have recommended that Americans use VPNs to protect their privacy. Following that advice may cost them the very protections they're seeking.

The letter raises concerns under two surveillance authorities: Section 702 of FISA, which expires next month, and Executive Order 12333, a Reagan-era directive governing foreign surveillance with even fewer constraints. Both operate under the same foreignness presumption.

Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee with a well-documented history of publicizing surveillance concerns he cannot discuss in classified settings, has carefully worded the letter to draw attention to practices without revealing classified information. Americans spend billions annually on VPN services.