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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Members of the Bavarian police and the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, intercept a vehicle and pin a man to the ground at a checkpoint during a demonstration as part of the GETEX anti-terror exercises during a media event on March 9, 2017 in Murnau, Germany.

The Terrorist as a “Potentially Dangerous Person”: The German Counterterrorism Regime

The attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz in December 2016 was arguably Germany’s 9/11. While German anti-terrorism law previously was influenced “only” by international…
Side by side photographs of Eli Lake and Michael Flynn. The photo of Eli Lake is at a new America Foundation event. The photo of Michael Flynn is him coming out of a courthouse.

Eli Lake’s Omissions and Misleading Facts in Defense of Michael Flynn

Lake's essay has been called “the best summary of the pro-Flynn argument you'll ever read,” but former US Attorney and Professor Barbara McQuade finds Lake's analysis omits…
The 73rd anniversary memorial service for the atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on August 6, 2018.

Nuclear Arms Control, or a New Arms Race? Trump Seems Bent on the Latter.

More ambitious talks with the Russians and Chinese are a laudable goal. But they can be pursued smartly and without unnecessarily high risk.
People demonstrate against President Richard Nixon and for the implementation of the impeachment proceedings, 30 January 1974 in Washington.

Recently Released OLC Opinions From 1974 Shed Light on Current Legal Debates

Earlier this month, my colleagues and I at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University secured the release of 96 previously withheld opinions authored by the Justice…
Donald Trump speaking and Michael Flynn in the background

Anticipating Phase Two of the Trumped Up “Obamagate”

Grappling with the potential criminal liability of leakers of the Flynn phone call, and how Trump and Barr will exploit it in their ongoing campaign of public deception.
The outside facade of the German Federal Constitutional Court

An Ongoing Problem: Germany’s Protection of Foreigners’ Communication Abroad

Will Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court press for further reforms or defer the matter to politics when it decides on the issue later this month?
U.S. Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea speaks during an Organization of American States meeting on state corruption and human rights violations in Venezuela at the organization's headquarters March 01, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Lessons From a Torture Advocate’s Failed Bid for a Key Human Rights Position

As society continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, most news has been gloomy. But there have been positive developments, and among them is a rare story of accountability…
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Monday, April 3, 2017, at the West Wing entrance of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Coronavirus Adds Urgency to Ending Egypt’s Detention and Torture of Children

The United States has long justified its support for Egyptian security services as necessary for the security and stability of Egypt and the region. Yet the means by which the…
Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH) speaks to Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) during break during a House Judiciary Committee hearing questioning staff lawyer Stephen Castor, representing the minority Republicans, and staff lawyer Daniel Goldman, representing the majority Democrats, in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill December 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Ratcliffe’s Radical Positions During the Impeachment Proceedings

"There were many paths open to congressional Republicans in how they addressed the impeachment process. Very few chose Ratcliffe’s approach."
FBI Building in Miami, Florida.

ODNI’s 2019 Statistical Transparency Report: The FBI Violates FISA…Again

Buried in the ODNI's 2019 statistical transparency report—released on Thursday—is information about a major instance of non-compliance with the law that ODNI hasn’t previously…
Government Technology Agency (GovTech) staff demonstrate Singapore's new contact-tracing smarthphone app called TraceTogether, as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Singapore on March 20, 2020.

As the U.S. Risks Reopening for Business, Technology Alone Won’t Stop the Coronavirus

Bluetooth contact-tracing apps could be a tool for returning to some version of normal, but only within limits and with robust safeguards,
Side by side photographs of Liza Goitein, Andrew McCabe, Mary McCord, and Julian Sanchez.

Top Experts Analyze Inspector General Report Finding Problems in FBI Surveillance

Expert takes on the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's recent report on FBI procedures for obtaining secret warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
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