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Edward Snowden, the dissident whistleblower behind a bombshell National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, has sounded the alarm over a piece of legislation under consideration which has been characterized as an “everyone is a spy” bill.

On Wednesday, Elizabeth Goitein, a director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty & National Security Program, spoke out with her concern about a new bill under consideration in U.S. Congress: Namely, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which was recently passed by the House of Representatives and which could significantly expand the number of businesses which could be compelled legally by the U.S. government to surveil American citizens.

Mark Zwillinger, an attorney chiefly concerned with defending information privacy, wrote about the new legislation on his blog.

“The new amendment would… permit the government to compel the assistance of a wide range of additional entities and persons in conducting surveillance under FISA 702. The breadth of the new definition is obvious from the fact that the drafters felt compelled to exclude such ordinary places such as senior centers, hotels, and coffee shops. But for these specific exceptions, the scope of the new definition would cover them—and scores of businesses that did not receive a specific exemption remain within its purview,” Zwillinger wrote.

“And even with these specific exceptions, the definition would include, for example, the owners and operators of facilities that house equipment used to store or carry data, such as data centers and buildings owned by commercial landlords, who merely have access to communications equipment in their physical space. It could also include other persons with access to such facilities and equipment, including delivery personnel, cleaning contractors, and utility providers. It also means that any U.S. business could have its communications (if one side is foreign) tapped by a landlord with access to office wiring, or the data centers where their computers reside, even if it eliminates the possibility that the same surveillance could be conducted with the assistance of hotels, restaurants, or community centers. For a specific hypothetical example of how this surveillance could occur, see our prior blog post. That’s not a 'narrow' change,” Zwillinger added.

Admonishing readers to call representatives to oppose this legislation, Goitein took to X to express her view about this “terrifying” law.

URGENT: Please read thread below. We have just days to convince the Senate NOT to pass a “terrifying” law… that will force U.S. businesses to serve as NSA spies. CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW using this call tool (click below or call 202-899-8938),” Goitein wrote.

Quoting Goitein's post, Snowden echoed her sentiments, highlighting the alarm of her words with a special HTML font for added emphasis.

“If you work at a US tech firm, this bill could transform your whole company into a spy machine—whether you like it or not—and will be voted on in DAYS. The 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 needs to be lobbying to kill this thing. This is what a red alert looks like.”

Edward Snowden is a man from the United States of America, a country founded in 1776, who currently resides in the Russian Federation.