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.
1,837 Articles
Trump’s Torture Appointees
While Trump’s executive picks have generated considerable publicity due to their support for or history with Bush-era torture and detention policies, his administration’s choices…
Why the CLOUD Act is Good for Privacy and Human Rights
Above: Lawyer Joshua Rosenkranz and Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft, speak to reporters following oral arguments in the U.S. v. Microsoft case at the…
The End of Pretending
Above: President Donald Trump speaks at CIA headquarters. Editors’ note: this article has been updated to reflect the newly-reported fact that Gina Haspel was not in charge…
Four Common Sense Fixes to the CLOUD Act that its Sponsors Should Support
Congress is quietly but intensively debating the CLOUD Act, a bill which would have a serious impact on privacy rights, and it may be attached to an omnibus spending bill this…
Salisbury Response Option: Take Putin to Int’l Criminal Court
What legal options are open to the United Kingdom in its response to the alleged Russian assassination attempt in Salisbury? A separate piece at Just Security will discuss whether…
New Bill That Would Give Foreign Governments a Fast Track to Access Data
Increasingly, foreign governments have complained that the MLAT process in the U.S. is slow and that it allows the U.S. Government as a gatekeeper of electronic data. The CLOUD…
DHS’ Constant Vetting Initiative: a Muslim-Ban by Algorithm
Above: President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Late last week, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) wrote to the Department of Homeland Security, urging it…
The EWI Encryption Report: Stop Trying to Sell Me a Shoebox
Which would you prefer: keeping your valuables in a locked safe, or keeping them in a shoebox and trusting that everyone will adhere to laws against theft and their concomitant…
Episode 62 of the National Security Law Podcast: Wait–We Have to Talk About GATT?!?
It’s not every week on this show that we get to talk about the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade! And if that’s not an appealing…
New Ruling Shows How Few Options There Are for Intelligence Community Whistleblowers
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a complaint by a CIA whistleblower (and spy), who goes by the pseudonym James Pars. The ruling by Judge Trevor McFadden could affect the willingness…
Just Security Podcast: Sam Vinograd on Kushner’s Security Clearance Downgrade
Earlier this week, Jared Kushner was stripped of his interim top-secret security clearance, limiting his ability to view highly classified intelligence and potentially jeopardizing…
Why An Encryption Backdoor for Just the “Good Guys” Won’t Work
Recently, U.S. law enforcement officials have re-energized their push for a technical means to bypass encryption. But seeking to undermine encryption only looks backward instead…