Civil Liberties
1,361 Articles
Whither the Section 215 Reauthorization Debate?
Remember section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act — and the bulk telephone records metadata program the government conducted pursuant a controversial interpretation of that authority?…
Deep Dive: The White House’s New Memo on Drones and Privacy
Last month, President Obama released a presidential memorandum on the domestic use of drones by federal agencies. The memorandum addresses the implications for privacy, civil rights,…
Deradicalization, Free Speech, and Academic Freedom
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Wall Street Journal Grants Anonymity to al-Qaeda’s “First Easily Accessible Media Liaison”
The Wall Street Journal today quotes at length from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) “first easily accessible media liaison” and explicitly grants the source…
Why Wikipedia is Suing the NSA
This week, the Wikimedia Foundation, sued the NSA over surveillance efforts taking place on US soil, specifically the “upstream” collection of Internet data in an effort to…
Post-Snowden Inquiry by UK Parliamentary Committee Recommends New Laws
Today, the Intelligence and Security Committee of the British Parliament published a report entitled “Privacy and Security: A modern and transparent legal framework.” The…
Travel Bans and Due Regard: The UK’s New Counter-Terrorism and Security Act
On Feb. 12, 2015, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA) received Royal Assent and many provisions are already in force. The full version is available here. The…
Wikimedia Sues the NSA
This morning, the organization behind Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, sued the NSA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, and their…
Microsoft Case: The Government Responds, But Fails to Convince
The government has now filed its Second Circuit brief in the dispute with Microsoft (discussed here, here, and here), challenging key assertions by Microsoft and its many amici,…
Beyond Drones: The Next-Generation of Autonomous Weapons Cannot be Developed in Secrecy
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Video: UN Expert Pablo de Greiff on Holding US Officials Responsible for Torture
Last week, I had the chance to ask Pablo de Greiff, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, about accountability…
Sexual Torture, Rape, and Gender-Based Violence in the Senate Torture Report
The ramifications and significance of the Senate Torture Report continue to spin out in various fora. While I have noted that the use of certain torture methods used at Guantanamo…