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

As China Promotes Authoritarian Model, the Resilience of Its Democratic Targets is Key
Pro-democracy political leaders, activists, and media can build on their successes against such influence with help from the world’s leading democracies.

“Strategic Silence” and State-Sponsored Hacking: The US Gov’t and SolarWinds
The absence to date of executive branch attribution and condemnation of the SolarWinds intrusions may be strategic silence—a tactic employed in the immediate aftermath of past…

Needed: A Whistleblower Protection Paradigm Shift
What should be done to provide truly meaningful and effective protections for government employees or contractors seeking to expose wrongdoing in the Intelligence Community?

We Can’t “Look Forward” on the Trump Administration’s Abuses
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, he will confront a national economic crisis and a still out-of-control pandemic. He will also face questions about how to…

Addressing Our Whole-of-Government Deficit in National Security
From Russ Travers who retired in July 2020 after a 42-year career in the Intelligence Community, having served in senior positions across multiple intelligence organizations --…

COVID-19 and International Law Series: Vaccine Theft, Disinformation, the Law Governing Cyber Operations
Ongoing cyberattacks on vaccine production and distribution systems, such as those discovered by IBM yesterday, may threaten efforts to fight COVID-19. But do they break international…

How to Revitalize the Intelligence Community: A Long, But Essential To-Do List
The president-elect and his DNI should act promptly and assertively to reverse Trump’s mistreatment, revitalize Community morale, and, through aggressive but prudent investment…

CIA Is Losing Its Best and Brightest and Not Just Because of Trump
In order to retain its best and brightest, CIA may need to part ways with some of its elders.

Data and Democracy: Three Things the Biden-Harris Administration Should Do to Tackle Big Tech
The monetization of personal data poses a direct threat to civil rights and democracy. The good news: the Biden-Harris administration has an opportunity to check this destructive…

COVID-19 and International Law Series: Human Rights Law – Civil and Political Rights
[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series, COVID and International Law. All articles in the series can be found here.] States around the world have had…

How a New Administration—and a New Congress—Can Fix Prepublication Review: A Roadmap for Reform
The new administration, and the new Congress, should act more decisively to reform this broken system.

On Accountability and the Next Presidency, Starting With the Cabinet
To truly “Build Back Better,” as Biden promised, he must not nominate, appoint, or otherwise hire anyone for his administration who has seriously abused power.