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.
1,805 Articles
Hayden, NSA, and the Road to 9/11
Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA (and now, a national security analyst at CNN), has recently emerged as a leading critic of the Trump administration,…
Responding to the Myths About Reforming FISA’s Section 702
Image: National Security Agency headquarters, Fort Meade, Md. As the New Year’s deadline for reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) approaches,…
Special Edition Just Security Podcast: Mike Flynn’s Plea Deal
I sat down with former White House lawyer Andy Wright to have a quick conversation about today’s news that President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor…
Warrantless Backdoor Searches are Not “Business as Usual”
This week, Just Security ran two posts, one by Matt Olsen and one by Asha Rangappa, defending the government’s warrantless access to Americans’ communications obtained “incidentally”…
Former Prosecutor Renato Mariotti’s Tweet Threads on National Security (Nov. 25-Dec. 1)
Here is an exposition and analysis of some of this week’s national security-related threads authored by Just Security Editorial Board member and former federal prosecutor Renato…
Iran Policy Implications of Replacing Tillerson with Pompeo and Cotton to CIA
The White House has created a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and then nominate Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to replace Pompeo…
The Supreme Court May Be Ready to Further Limit Warrantless Access to Communications
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Carpenter v. United States, a case involving the privacy of cell phone location information. At issue is whether the government…
Don’t Fall for the Hype: How the FBI’s Use of Section 702 Surveillance Data Really Works
All the cool kids these days oppose the FBI’s so-called “backdoor search loophole,” which allows it to query information obtained under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence…
Episode 47 of the National Security Law Podcast: Donuts and Depth Charges
And…we’re back! Fresh off of Thanksgiving, Professor Chesney and I are (all too) fired up to discuss the latest national security law news (not to mention a bunch of stuff…
Where Does the Trump Administration Stand on Encryption?
The circumstances are familiar: a deceased criminal, a locked phone, a determined FBI and a defiant tech company. After Devin Kelley murdered 26 people at the Sutherland Springs…
The “Backdoor Search Loophole” Isn’t Our Only Problem: The Dangers of Global Information Sharing
The upcoming expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has launched a fresh wave of debate on how the statute’s “backdoor search loophole”…
Flynn’s Turkish Delight: How, Why, and When He Reversed His Policy Positions on Turkey
Many commentators anticipate that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will likely indict retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn in part for the former National Security Advisor’s…