PATRIOT Act provisions renewed.

• Position: LEGISLATION - Brief article

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President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of the USA PATRIOT Act without any new limits on government surveillance powers, despite privacy advocates' calls for changes.

As a result, three key sections that were set to expire will stay in force for another year, including those that:

* Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that allow authorities to monitor multiple communication devices

* Permit court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations without the suspect's knowledge

* Allow surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen engaged in terrorism who may not have ties to a recognized terrorist group

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had called for the act's section 215, which gives the government easier access to a suspect's records, to be amended. Michelle Richardson, ACLU legislative counsel, told the Christian Science Monitor that "this very powerful tool" should be...