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
Coverage of the U.S. Proceedings Before the Human Rights Committee Available
A video archive of the United States proceedings before the Human Rights Committee in Geneva is now available here. The Committee released its summary of the proceedings, which…
DiFi vs CIA
More than a few folks have commented on the irony of Sen. Dianne Feinstein—perhaps the most vigorous defender of NSA’s controversial surveillance programs—flipping into…
How President Obama can fulfill his promise to end bulk collection of telephone metadata, while preserving intelligence capabilities
On January 17, President Obama promised to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of metadata on Americans’ phone calls under “section 215” (which is really…
Caroline Krass Confirmed as CIA General Counsel
I am delighted to report that the Senate just confirmed my friend and former colleague Caroline Krass to be General Counsel at the CIA, by a vote of 95-4. (“No” votes…
Debating “The Snowden Operation”: A Victory for Privacy Rights or for Russia?
A Debate between Edward Lucas, Senior Editor of The Economist and author of “The Snowden Operation: Inside the West’s Greatest Intelligence Disaster“ and Stephen Holmes,…
Rep. Schiff Op-Ed in NYT: moving drone program from CIA to JSOC would result in more transparency — But is he right?
Today, Representative Adam Schiff has an opinion piece in the New York Times where he advocates that Congress should allow the President to move the drone program from the CIA…
The United States’ Position on Extraterritoriality: The Time For Change Is Now
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties in light of the release of two State Department memos and…
Constitutional Conflict & Congressional Oversight
This week has seen a long-smoldering Senate investigation of CIA torture allegations burst into a public conflagration between the CIA and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.…
Floor Statement from Senator Feinstein on CIA-SSCI Controversy
This morning, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), sharply criticized the CIA in a speech on the floor of the Senate about the…
CIA Director John Brennan Speaking at the Council for Foreign Relations
This morning CIA Director John Brennan is speaking at the Council for Foreign Relations where he is discussing challenges to the intelligence community and reflecting on his first…
The PCLOB Report and the Need for Executive Branch Constitutional Enforcement
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been both praised and criticized for the conclusions of its recent report on NSA bulk metadata collection: that the program…
Letter to the Editor from Former Member of the Human Rights Committee, Martin Scheinin
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties in light of the release of two State Department memos and…