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.
1,805 Articles

Keeping Count: Major Adverse Legal Findings Against Donald Trump (Nov. 2020-2024)
Tracking former President Donald Trump's string of major defeats in the legal system after the 2020 election.

What U.S. Policymakers Can Learn from the European Union’s Probe of Meta
Early efforts to enforce the Digital Services Act shed light on what is at least theoretically possible in the U.S.

An Oversight Model for AI in National Security: The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Congress must create an AI oversight authority with the mandate and resources to build safeguards into these systems from the outset.

Unpacking the FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill
The FISA reauthorization bill has something to interest everyone from addressing the use of U.S. person query terms to formalizing oversight.

Iran’s Hijab and Chastity Bill Underscores the Need to Codify Gender Apartheid
Iran's new bill shows why the U.N. Sixth Committee should include gender apartheid in the crimes against humanity treaty.

The SAFE Act Is No “Compromise” and Won’t Leave Americans Safer
The SAFE Act would renew Section 702 of FISA, but only with changes that seriously undermine its agility and value as an indispensable foreign intelligence collection tool.

The Year(s) of Section 702 Reform, Part VI: (Another) Looming Deadline
Congress once again has an opportunity — and an obligation — to enact much-needed surveillance reforms to protect Americans’ privacy while ensuring that intelligence agencies…

Bringing Transparency to National Security Uses of Artificial Intelligence
The Biden administration should ensure that AI systems do not proliferate in secret under the banner of "national security."

Why We Need a National Data Protection Strategy
A national data protection strategy would better position the United States to follow through on the promise to protect personal data as a national security imperative.

Beating Putin’s Game of Nuclear Chicken
The Russian leader regularly threatens to use nuclear weapons to intimidate the US. An effective counter would exploit his fears.

Is the Biden Administration Reaching a New Consensus on What Constitutes Private Information?
There is growing recognition that the way intelligence agencies use commercially available information is in need of reform.

Key Takeaways from the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community
This year's ATA includes interesting nuggets for U.S. policy toward China, Russia, and Iran — and warnings about U.S. election interference.