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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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…
A Carnival Cruise ship is docked at the PortMiami as the company becomes one of the first to be sued under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse on May 02, 2019 in Miami, Florida.

No Oligarch Left Behind: Trump’s Title III Cuba Policy

After the Revolution, Cuba expropriated the property of U.S. nationals and Cubans, including those who (like my family) came to the United States. In May, the Trump administration…
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at U.S. President Donald Trump during the welcoming ceremony prior to the G20 Summit's Plenary Meeting on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Countering Russia’s Malign Influence Operations

Putin’s successes with covert action show that such operations are not only more effective and cheaper than conventional military operations, but they have also resulted in far…
Trump and Barr arrive together for the presentation of the Public Safety Officer Medals of Valor in the East Room of the White House May 22, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Bill Barr’s Dangerous New Powers

Former Justice Dept and National Security Council officials explain their concerns about unprecedented powers President Trump handed his A.G.
Julian Assange is restrained by men and police.

Indictment of Assange for Espionage Directly Threatens Press Freedoms

This article is co-published with The Bulwark.   Boy, did I ever get this wrong. Back in mid-April, when the Department of Justice unveiled an indictment of Julian Assange,…
Two Pakistani local residents gather around a destroyed vehicle hit by a drone strike in which Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was believed to be travelling in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan, around 160 kilometres west of Quetta. The vehicle is on fire.

‘Flying Ginsu’ Missile Won’t Resolve U.S. Targeted Killing Controversy

Proponents of a new, modified Hellfire missile called the R9X tout it as a game-changer that can spare more civilian lives than traditional Hellfires. But the new technology can…
A person types on a laptop. Translucent icons litter the image to represent cybersecurity.

CTRL+HALT+Defeat: State-Sponsored Surveillance and the Suppression of Dissent

A new lawsuit in Israeli court seeks accountability for the export of malicious spyware used for digital surveillance of human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents.…
The Northrop Grumman logo is seen on a building in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, on March 11, 2019.

Shareholder Resolution Asks How Northrop Grumman Implements its Human Rights Policy

Welfare and national security risks could be mitigated by active implementation of Northrop's human rights policy.
Canadian flags line the walkway in front of the Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario, October 2, 2017.

Canada Considers Most Far-Reaching Intell Reforms in Decades

The proposed bill strikes a healthy balance between facing up to new cyber-threats and ensuring accountability and oversight.
A demonstrator holds a poster picturing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and a lightened candle during a gathering outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, on October 25, 2018.

Intelligence, Ethics and Bureaucracy: The Duty to Warn Jamal Khashoggi

The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists have obtained "Duty to Warn" documents that shed new light on what a U.S. intelligence officer would…
U.S. Attorney General William Barr leans his head sideways onto his hand as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee May 1, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Barr and Congress: Is the Focus on Criminality Too Narrow?–Five Experts Weigh In

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Attorney General William Barr yesterday raises the question of whether Congress, in responding to the findings in Special Counsel…
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