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
A Casa 235 turboprop plane with registration number N168D taxis along a runway at Ruzyne Airport April 8, 2005 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Citizens to the UN: Investigate Our “Torture Chambers in the Sky”

On behalf of the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT), a citizen-initiated truth panel, we just submitted a 35-page communication to 10 U.N. Special Rapporteurs…
Supreme Court Justices process from the Supreme Court to Westminster Abbey on October 1, 2013 in London, England. The start of the legal year is marked with a traditional religious service and procession from Westminster Abbey.

When Constitutional Law and Government Hacking Collide: A Landmark U.K. Ruling Is Relevant on Both Sides of the Pond

The U.K. Supreme Court's landmark judgment in R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal and others sets an important precedent for oversight of questions of law…
The end of a section of the border wall stands on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border, with Tijuana in the background, on April 3, 2019 in Otay Mesa, California. U.S.

Journalist Watchlist Raises Specter of Civil Rights-Era Secret Surveillance

Throughout his campaign and now his presidency, historians have drawn parallels between President Trump’s treatment of the news media and the Nixon White House’s efforts to…
Police in riot gear block the street in front of a number of Uighur people on July 8, 2009 in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, China.

Scientists Are Aiding Apartheid in China

The international forensic genetic research community has failed to exercise due diligence in their cooperation with Chinese Ministry of Public Security researchers on forensic…
High tension electrical power lines at a transfer station along Highway 58 are viewed on March 28, 2017, near Buttonwillow, California.

U.S. Cyber Command, Russia and Critical Infrastructure: What Norms and Laws Apply?

Emplacing malware in critical infrastructure on which the civilian population depends is a decision States must not take lightly. It may also violate international law, but 'responding…
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands ahead a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018.

To Congress: If Russians Seek to Provide Dirt, Make it a Requirement to Report!

The Anti-Collusion Act, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), would require everyone running for federal, state, or local office to report offers of assistance…
Papers with the words "Confidential" and "Secret" written across.

Balancing the Law and Reporting: Reflections on the Assange Indictment and What It Means for Journalists

The superseding indictment of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has again sent First Amendment guardians to the ramparts, when what’s needed is a calm discussion of what threat…

Unfinished Business: What Mueller Didn’t Cover, But Congress Can

An itemization of what the Mueller Report left untouched or undone, and where Congress can pick up the thread.
Just Security

L’Affaire d’Assange: Why His Extradition May Be Blocked

The Department of Justice’s release of a superseding indictment accusing Julian Assange of numerous Espionage Act violations has stirred grave concern among defenders of a free…
) Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden poses for a photo during an interview in an undisclosed location in December 2013 in Moscow, Russia.

The Snowden Effect, Six Years On

Six years ago, the world was introduced to a previously unknown government contractor who revealed the National Security Agency (NSA) was conducting an unparalleled level of warrantless…
Just Security

Cooking the WMD Books: Politicizing the 2019 State Department Compliance Report

"I know. I used to work in State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance and then in the Office of the Under Secretary responsible for this report.…
Julian Assange leaves after speaking to the media from the balcony of the Embassy Of Ecuador on May 19, 2017 in London, England.

Assange May Have Committed a Crime, But the Espionage Act Is the Wrong Law to Prosecute

Is Wikileaks leader Julian Assange a journalist? If journalism is a profession, it is because, like other professions, it has standards and a code of ethics. As an example, a journalist…
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