Basic summary of the Bill HR #4681

let's begin with (b) Procedures for Covered Communications –

-the term "covered communications" is specifically defined right above the bill.

(1) Covered communication.–The term ``covered communication''
means any nonpublic telephone or electronic communication acquired
without the consent of a person who is a party to the
communication, including communications in electronic storage.</code>

-this envelops everything; internet, cell phones, email, PMs, anything that's sent from one person to the other in a non public space, like a private message.

(1) Requirement to adopt.–Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act each head of an element of the
intelligence community shall adopt procedures approved by the
Attorney General for such element that ensure compliance with the
requirements of paragraph (3).

-this will be adopted by two years after the pass of the bill



 (2) Coordination and approval.–The procedures required by
paragraph (1) shall be–


 (A) prepared in coordination with the Director of National
 Intelligence; and

 (B) approved by the Attorney General prior to issuance.

-the next segment has to be approved by the attorney general and director of national intelligence

 (A) Application.–The procedures required by paragraph (1)
 shall apply to any intelligence collection activity not
 otherwise authorized by court order (including an order or
 certification issued by a court established under subsection
 (a) or (b) of section 103 of the Foreign Intelligence
 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803)), subpoena, or
 similar legal process that is reasonably anticipated to result
 in the acquisition of a covered communication to or from a
 United States person and shall permit the acquisition,
 retention, and dissemination of covered communications subject
 to the limitation in subparagraph (B).

-applies to any intelligence collection activity NOT OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED BY COURT ORDER, SUBPOENA OR ANY SIMILAR LEGAL PROCESS
                                 >>>>ATTENTION TO THIS PART, THIS IS BAD<<<<
-this means that anything not already explicitly legal and documented is fair game
-in other words, the next segment will refer to information gathered by the intelligence THAT THEY "INCIDENTALLY" FIND (ie. any and all information they spy into)




 (B) Limitation on retention.–A covered communication shall not be retained in excess of 5 years, unless–

-you can't hold onto this data for more than 5 years unless…


 (i) the communication has been affirmatively
 determined, in whole or in part, to constitute foreign
 intelligence or counterintelligence or is necessary to
 understand or assess foreign intelligence or
 counterintelligence;

-you think it belongs to a spy


 (ii) the communication is reasonably believed to
 constitute evidence of a crime and is retained by a law
 enforcement agency;

-you think its evidence in a crime

 (iii) the communication is enciphered or reasonably
 believed to have a secret meaning;

-it's encrypted, or that there's a secret meaning
-any type of encoded information, or any such thing with a layer of security on it that protects it from being directly accessed

 (iv) all parties to the communication are reasonably
 believed to be non-United States persons;

-both participants in a conversation are foreigners
-any and all foreigners would not have any private rights because they want to make everyone out to be a person of interest, and at the very most a terrorist

 (v) retention is necessary to protect against an
 imminent threat to human life, in which case both the
 nature of the threat and the information to be retained
 shall be reported to the congressional intelligence
 committees not later than 30 days after the date such
 retention is extended under this clause;

-They want to retain information in the instance of terrorists or suspected terrorism
-Which doesn't necessarily mean that you're out of the data retention if you are not a terrorist or have no reason to be believed a terrorist, this just means that they can get away with retaining information if they want and classify it as "suspected terrorism" or the like

 (vi) retention is necessary for technical assurance or
 compliance purposes, including a court order or discovery
 obligation, in which case access to information retained
 for technical assurance or compliance purposes shall be
 reported to the congressional intelligence committees on an
 annual basis; or

-They can legally keep and send your data for compliance with lawful orders, such as subpoena or court order

(vii) retention for a period in excess of 5 years is
 approved by the head of the element of the intelligence
 community responsible for such retention, based on a
 determination that retention is necessary to protect the
 national security of the United States, in which case the
 head of such element shall provide to the congressional
 intelligence committees a written certification
 describing retention for a period in excess of 5 years
is approved by the head of the element of the intelligence
community responsible for such retention, based on a
determination that retention is necessary to protect
 the national security of the United States"

-They can keep the information for more than five years if you are found spying or are supposedly thought of to be a spy against the US

 (I) the reasons extended retention is necessary to
 protect the national security of the United States;

 (II) the duration for which the head of the element
 is authorizing retention;

 (III) the particular information to be retained;
 and

 (IV) the measures the element of the intelligence
 community is taking to protect the privacy interests of
 United States persons or persons located inside the
 United States.

-Basically, that thing about the terrorism? Now it's "If you're spying on the US supposedly, for OUR OWN PRIVACY, we can look at your stuff"
-this means "We will remove your privacy so we can spy on you so that we are sure no one is spying on us."
-Also, I-IV is just an explanation of why

Summary:

government can hold onto data, that they "incidentally" find, for five years, unless they feel like they want to keep it longer, and then go on with the procedure of going to court and jailing you with evidence that they shouldn't be having in the first place.

nothing's really changed because they do this anyways, but now what they do is legitimized more.