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.

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1,805 Articles
El Salvador's President is photographed next to the files that contain case information The massacre of El Mozote during a press conference at a presidential home in San Salvador, El Salvador, on September 24, 2020.

On El Salvador’s 1981 El Mozote Massacre, President Bukele Sides With Impunity

Survivors of the largest single massacre in modern Latin American history want him charged for failure to comply with a judicial order for documents.
A member of Kenya Defence Forces boards a truck carrying Kenyan Police as it enters the university campus of the northeastern town of Garissa on April 3, 2015, one day after 147 people, mostly students, were killed when Somalia's Shebab Islamist group attacked the university.

Investigation Highlights Transparency Need on US, UK Roles in Kenyan Counterterrorism

If true, the cases further spotlight the doublespeak by the US and the UK on accountability for security force abuses in Kenya.
The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and an America flag is seen at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, April 13, 2016.

A Blueprint for the Future: The CIA in 2021 and Beyond

Four basic prescriptions for the CIA that must be addressed under the next administration, no matter who wins in November.
Parchment paper reading, “The Good Governance Papers: A Collection of Essays in favor of public integrity and the rule of law as written upon at Just Security Fall 2020”

Good Governance Paper No. 4: Oversight of the Intelligence Community

Fourth essay in a series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and the rule of law.
A man walks inside the Apple store in Hong Kong on October 10, 2019.

App Stores as Back-Doors for Government Regulation of End-to-End Encryption

App stores make natural chokepoints for de facto government regulation, without the long and politically expensive process of legislation. But the privacy and security implications…
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh mug shots
Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) leans in close without a face mask to speak with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who wears a face mask, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation" on Capitol Hill on August 5, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Senate Procedures Offer No Hope for Dems on Supreme Court Nominee

An explainer on why quorum requirements, closure vote thresholds, and other Senate procedures can't significantly slow or stop the nomination of the next Supreme Court Justice.…
A demonstrator protests outside of the Old Bailey court in central London on September 14, 2020, where the extradition hearing against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's has resumed. A billboard on a truck reads, "Don't extradite Assange. Journalism is not a crime." The demonstrator wears a Guy Fawkes mask and holds a sign reading, "Stop this political trial."

It’s Assange in the Dock, But It’s National Security Journalism on Trial

The Justice Department’s indictment of Assange under the Espionage Act was intended to deter journalism that is vital to American democracy.
People stand on the CIA symbol on the floor of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

A Case for More Compassionate Leadership at CIA

A toxic work environment has taken hold at CIA. Leaders need to change the culture if they wish to attract and retain the best and brightest.

Don’t Blame Privacy for Big Tech’s Monopoly on Information

As the prospect of antitrust charges against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) looms larger, regulators should challenge the concentration of data within Big Tech…
Former Salvadoran colonel and Defense Deputy Minister Inocente Montano wears a face mask before the start of his trial related to the murder of six Spanish Jesuit priests and two collaborators in 1989, in Madrid on June 08, 2020.

Breaking: Colonel Montano, Extradited from the United States, Found Guilty of the Jesuits Massacre by Spanish Court

UPDATE: The judgment is available here (in Spanish). A Spanish court has convicted Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano for his role in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests, their…
A protester holds a sign reading, “End Torture” at a rally to "demand Congressional action to stop torture" on Capitol Hill March 10, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Uphold the Prohibition on Torture

A full reckoning for state-sanctioned American torture remains unfinished. The Obama administration took important steps towards fulfilling US obligations but fell short of what…
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