Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act

The Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act is an emergency public surveillance law approved by Federal Congress on March 30, 3307. The brainchild of Vice President Jerome Archer, the law was part of the Federation's response to the devastating Nine Martyrs attack of March 11, 3307, and was intended to prevent future terrorist attacks by allowing the Federal government to be more proactive in identifying terrorist agents and sympathisers. As emergency legislation, the Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act replaced all previous Federal laws regarding monitoring civilian activity and intercepting personal communications, including relevant statutes of the Federal Accord.

The passage of the act resulted in the Federal Intelligence Agency creating the controversial Proactive Detection Bureau, which was given far-reaching authority to monitor public and private comms networks across the Federation for criminal activity. Some Federal citizens criticised the PDB as an unconstitutional invasion of their right to personal privacy, and the dispute over the legality and ethics of the PDB directly precipitated the Federal Rebellion of 3307. Shadow President Felicia Winters repeatedly called for the act to be repealed, but to no avail.