Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,837 Articles
The Intelligence Time Machine
On Tuesday, members in the House and Senate introduced new versions of the USA Freedom Act that would prohibit bulk collection of records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act,…
The Minimalist Surveillance Reforms of USA Freedom
On April 30, the House Judiciary Committee will take up a warmed-over version of last year’s USA Freedom Act. The committee has offered a rather optimistic claim of the surveillance…
Encryption, Anonymity, and the “Right to Science”
“The right to science is sometimes considered a prerequisite for the realization of a number of other human rights.” – Farida Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the field…
Ten More Strikes the Obama Administration Should Immediately Acknowledge and Investigate
The Obama administration took a long overdue step toward transparency for its “targeted” killing program when it last week openly acknowledged and took responsibility for the…
CIA Exemption from President’s Restrictions on Drone Strikes in Pakistan
In May 2013, President Obama announced a new directive which presumably places heavy restrictions on drone strikes and other lethal operations outside of the Afghan theater. One…
US Drone Killings of Western Aid Workers Highlight Problems of Nebulous War
President Obama’s apology for the accidental killings of two innocent hostages by US drones in Pakistan has led to understandable criticism of the United States’ secret drone…
Senator McConnell’s Modest Proposal to Reform Section 215: Don’t!
With only 14 legislative days remaining (in the House, anyway) before Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (which the government argues, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
As the Senate Torture Report Gathers Dust, Is the Obama Administration Giving Torturers De Facto Amnesty?
It has been more than four months since the Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI) published the summary of its report on the secret detention program operated by the CIA after the…
Just Security’s Guide to the 2016 Presidential Candidates and National Security
The 2016 presidential election is more than 18 months away, but the races are already heating up with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Hillary Clinton in the running so far.…
Rethinking How We Wage the Forever War
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…
More on Flawed Research and Flawed Counterterrorism Policies
I want to concur with the thoughtful views articulated by Michael German last week addressing terrorism and counterterrorism research. Having spent twenty years working and researching…
Appointing Democratic Judges to the FISA Court Won’t Solve Its Structural Flaws
Chief Justice Roberts recently named two new judges to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) — Judge James P. Jones from the Western District of Virginia and Judge…