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.
1,807 Articles
JFK Records Suit Tests CIA Secrecy on Assassination
Morley v. CIA has wound its way through the courts for 16 years, and revealed some juicy nuggets along the way. The plaintiff, who is the biographer of two top CIA operations officers,…
Split Over Compelled Decryption Deepens With Massachusetts Case
Encryption is as omnipresent as computers, tablets, and smartphones. Yet the Supreme Court has not provided guidance on the constitutional implications of compelling a suspect…
CBP’s New Social Media Surveillance: A Threat to Free Speech and Privacy
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's efforts to map out the networks and activities of American activists and journalists through link analysis and social media monitoring pose…
A Caution on Congressional Subpoenas and “Constitutional Crisis”
Last week, as part of its ongoing investigation into White House security clearance procedures, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed former White House personnel…
New DoD Policy on Amends Needs to Address Transparency Gap
New information from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reveals a previously unrecognized transparency gap in the U.S. military’s efforts to acknowledge and address civilian…
The (Redacted) Mueller Report: First Takes from the Experts
A roundup of leading experts' views on the publicly released — and redacted — Mueller report.
Is Trump a Russian Agent?: Explaining Terms of Art and Examining the Facts
Former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service explains why CIA would never try to recruit someone with Donald Trump's profile, and what may also give the Kremlin pause…
Barr’s Redaction Process, cont’d
Attorney General William Barr testified at length last week, in the House and the Senate, about his ongoing process of redacting the Mueller Report in anticipation of sharing it…
Julian Assange and Omar al-Bashir: What Comes Next for Two Global Fugitives?
Yesterday was a breathtaking one for global criminal justice. First, British police arrested Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and then, just hours later, the…
Assange Indictment Is Shot Across the Bow of Press Freedom
"The indictment seems to have been drafted not just to justify the prosecution of Assange but to tar legitimate journalistic activities by association with Assange’s alleged…
The Consequences of Legislating Cyberlaw After Terrorist Attacks
Hastily drafted laws passed under pressure tend to create new problems while doing little to counter threats from terrorists and violent extremists.
The Pentagon Wants to Streamline Security Clearances by Using AI. That’s a Dangerous Idea.
If DoD's new autonomous system goes awry, it could embed bias and a resistance to oversight. Is existence alone might jeopardize civil liberties, modify subjects’ behavior in…