US spy powers lapse raises World Cup concerns

WASHINGTON: A major US surveillance authority is set to expire on Friday midnight, deepening concerns over national security as the World Cup gets underway and Washington remains deadlocked over President Donald Trump’s intelligence leadership.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows US spy agencies to collect communications of foreign targets overseas without a warrant, including when they contact people inside the United States.

Officials describe the program­­me as one of Washington’s most im­­portant counterterrorism and espionage tools, while privacy advocates and lawmakers in both parties have long warned that it can sweep up Americans’ communications without adequate safeguards.

The authority expires at midnight Friday going into Saturday after the House of Representatives and Senate both failed to pass a short-term extension on Thursday.

Congress fails to extend Surveillance Act’s section that allows warrantless surveillance of foreign targets overseas

The lapse comes as the United States co-hosts the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, bringing fans from the 48 participating countries to stadiums across the continent.

FBI Director Kash Patel said this week that preventing terrorist attacks during the World Cup is the bureau’s top priority, noting it is expected to be one of the largest US sporting events ever held.

The immediate consequences of expiration remain uncertain, however, because surveillance operations under Section 702 are authorised through annual certifications approved by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The court approved a new certification in March, meaning some existing surveillance could theoretically continue until March 2027 even without fresh congressional action. But lawmakers and intelligence experts warn that the legal picture is murkier in practice.

With the House out of session until June 23 and Senate leaving Washington, Congress has no clear path to restore the authority.

‘Tighten World Cup security’

Meanwhile, a hacker group claims to have breached FBI drones and has threatened to target the World Cup that kicked off this week, a monitoring group said on Friday.

The SITE Intelligence Group published a statement from Handala said to be linked to Iran saying they had had access “for months” to “every image and every suspect” captured by first-person view drones used by the FBI.

“Better tighten your World Cup security, we don’t like some of those teams at all. Don’t forget: FPVs are everywhere; you never know when one might end up right in your team’s bus,” Handala said in the statement quoted by SITE.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2026 ...