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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Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in for his testimony before the House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 24, 2019.

Top Law and Intelligence Experts’ Views on Mueller Hearings

To help make sense of the day’s hearings, we turned to Just Security’s editors and contributors for their thoughts. 
A man walks across the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at the lobby of the Original Headquarters Building at the CIA headquarters February 19, 2009 in McLean, Virginia.

Revamped Security Clearance Process Could Provide Leverage Over Those Who Punish Whistleblowers

The security clearance backlog is finally shrinking. This offers a special opportunity to protect embattled national security whistleblowers.
Katherine Gun, a junior Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) official leaves Bow Street Magistrates court in London with her lawyer.

Iraq ‘Dirty Tricks’ Tale Gets Star Treatment, But Big Questions Remain

The dramatic but little-told story of a British intelligence whistleblower who tried to raise the alarm over a questionable spying campaign to bolster the cause for the Iraq War…
A participant attends the 34C3 Chaos Communication Congress of the Chaos Computer Club on December 27, 2017 in Leipzig, Germany.

Why the Ghost Keys ‘Solution’ to Encryption is No Solution

The use of applications such as Signal, WhatsApp, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger for communications secured by end-to-end encryption has exploded over the past few years. Two…
Hundreds of people gather in lower Manhattan for a "Lights for Liberty" protest against migrant detention camps and the impending raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this coming weekend in various cities on July 12, 2019 in New York City.

The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Conceal Abuse of Migrant Detainees

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a half-century of precedent on citizens’ rights to know what their government is doing, by making it more difficult for the public to probe…
The seals of the U.S. Cyber Command, the National Secrity Agency and the Central Security Service.

U.S. Offensive Cyber Operations against Economic Cyber Intrusions: An International Law Analysis – Part II

Part I demonstrated that the United States is likely to struggle to make a convincing argument that economic cyber intrusions carried out against it breach international law. Consequently,…
A person typing on a keyboard

Outside the Beltway: An Experiment on Human Rights & Potential CLOUD Act Agreements

What questions remain in assessing the human rights concerns of potential CLOUD Act agreements? How would executive branch lawyers approach these questions?
Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC.

Five Takeaways from Talking Feds’ Mueller Preview Panel

As we prepare for the upcoming congressional testimony of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, we thought it would be helpful to tune into the Talking Feds podcast, which taped a series…
The seals of the U.S. Cyber Command, the National Secrity Agency and the Central Security Service.

U.S. Offensive Cyber Operations against Economic Cyber Intrusions: An International Law Analysis – Part I

On June 11, 2019, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that U.S. offensive cyber operations would be expanded beyond countering election interference to…
Camden County Police Department officer Jose Delvalle, Louis Sanchez and Vidal Riverago out on patrol in Camden, New Jersey, on May 24, 2017.

Policing, U.S. Style: With Little Idea of What Really Works

Until we better analyze police strategies, policies, and technologies, and learn, in a quantifiable way, what works and what doesn’t, we are not truly advancing public safety.…
A laptop displays a message after being infected by a ransomware as part of a worldwide cyberattack on June 27, 2017 in Geldrop.

Cyberattack Attribution and the Virtues of Decentralization

In the midst of rising tensions between the United States and Iran over tanker attacks and Iran’s downing of a U.S. drone, reports emerged that U.S. Cyber Command had launched…
Australian founder of whistleblowing website, 'WikiLeaks', Julian Assange holds up a copy of today's Guardian newspaper during a press conference in London on July 26, 2010. The headline reads, “Massive leak of secret files exposes true Afghan war.”

Assange’s Indictment: A Threat to Everyone

Had the precedent of the Justice Department’s prosecution of Julian Assange existed in the past, there are numerous cases that could have resulted in a prosecution under the…
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