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.
1,846 Articles
Square Peg, Round Hole – How the FISC has misapplied FISA to Allow for Bulk Metadata Collection
The recent treasure trove of NSA documents released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence included an opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that…
NSA SEXINT is the Abuse You’ve All Been Waiting For
In the latest news report based on documents revealed by Edward Snowden, we’ve learned that the NSA creates profiles of porn viewing, online sexual activity and more from its…
ACLU Sues CIA for Release of Torture Reports
Yesterday, the ACLU filed a FOIA lawsuit to compel the CIA to disclose two reports on the CIA’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation programs. The full complaint can…
Center for National Security Studies’ Latest Filing for Amici Curiae in Section 215 Proceedings
On Friday, the Center for National Security Studies (CNSS) filed its latest pleading in its efforts to have the FISC enable third-party persons or organizations to submit amici…
Constitutional Advocates in Comparative Perspective
A number of proposed amendments aimed at reforming the FISA Court envisage a Constitutional Advocate or similar role. Marty Lederman and Steve Vladeck posted earlier here on…
Decision Time: Key Issues in the U.S.-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement
The U.S. and Afghanistan agreed this week on the terms for an extended U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after 2014.The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which the Loya Jirga…
The FISC’s Problematic Pen/Trap Opinion on Bulk Internet Metadata Collection
The latest round of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions released under the Freedom of Information Act includes what, for many surveillance wonks, has been the white…
Dahlia Lithwick and Me on Why Metadata Matters
I suspect we’ll have a lot more to say about today’s oral argument in New York in the ACLU’s challenge to the government’s “telephony metadata”…
HPSCI Rejects Drone Reporting Requirements in Intel Authorization Act
As Sarah Knuckey covered earlier this month in a post here on Just Security, the Senate Intelligence Committee included in the 2014 intelligence authorization bill requirements…
New FISC Pen Register Opinion: It’s Just a Matter of Time Before Somebody Gets Hurt
Once again, the NSA has conducted illegal spying. New documents reveal the National Security Agency’s (NSA) systemic violation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)…
The New US “Red Line” – No Privacy Rights For Foreigners
Colum Lynch has a fascinating blog at Foreign Policy based on a leaked memo reflecting the United States’ latest “redline”: that no privacy rights be recognized for foreigners…
Early Thoughts on the New NSA Disclosures
There’s going to be a lot to say in the coming days and weeks about the more-than-six dozen surveillance-related documents declassified and disclosed yesterday by the ODNI.…