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
OHCHR Call for Comments on Encryption and Anonymity Online
David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on protection and promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, has issued a call for submission of information related to…
The Latest Rules on How Long NSA Can Keep Americans’ Encrypted Data Look Too Familiar
Does the National Security Agency (NSA) have the authority to collect and keep all encrypted Internet traffic for as long as is necessary to decrypt that traffic? That was a question…
Charlie Hebdo, The Interview, and Censoring Torture Photos
In France and the United States, there seems to be near-universal agreement that to self-censor because of threats of violence is unwise and cowardly. The slogan “Je Suis Charlie,”…
The Torture Report, the CIA’s “Work of Fiction,” and a Friday-afternoon Letter From DOJ
In an earlier post, I called attention to the revelation in the Senate torture report that the CIA contemplated disclosing information about the torture program under cover of…
Decrypting John Boehner on the Capitol Bomb Plotter
An Ohio man was recently charged with plotting to blow up the U.S. Captiol, and House Speaker John Boehner appears to be claiming that the NSA’s controversial bulk telephony…
Cybersecurity and a New Era of Asymmetric Economic Warfare
In the last two decades, and in particular after the 9/11 attacks, the United States and its allies have had a near-monopoly on the use of coercive economic measures (sanctions,…
US Government Seeks to Deny Twitter’s “Warrant Canary” Challenge
On Friday, the Justice Department asked a federal district court to brush away a lawsuit filed in October by Twitter seeking greater freedom to publicly report on the numbers and…
No Impunity for Torturers [Updated]
[Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on December 15, 2014. Check out a substantial Update published on January 5, 2015 and appended below.] In a post called…
The Three Legal Questions Left Unresolved by al-Libi’s Death
Just 10 days before his trial on terrorism charges was set to begin in Manhattan federal court, accused al Qaeda operative Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruquai, from Libya, better known…
Top 10 National Security Cases to Watch in 2015
In the spirit of the annual taking stock that accompanies the change of year, I thought I would offer my take on the top ten national security cases and themes to watch in the…
14 National Security Law “Heroes” in 2014
We spend a lot of time on this blog being critical–of people; of institutions; of judicial decisions; and of policy developments But as 2014 draws to a close, I thought it…
Did USAID engage in “covert action” in Cuba without proper domestic legal authority?
Lost in last week’s wave of news coverage on Cuba was an important Associated Press story on reportedly clandestine practices conducted by the U.S. Agency for International Development…