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
Sessions Changes his Story on Russian Contacts in Senate Testimony
On Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions changed his story yet again about what he discussed with Russian officials during the 2016 election. While he initially denied having…
Responsibility and the Encryption Debate: A Response to DAG Rosenstein
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Last week, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave a speech about encryption at the U.S. Naval Academy, solidifying the Trump administration’s…
AG Sessions’ Shifting and False Statements to Congress on Russia
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for an oversight hearing. This is the first time Sessions will come before the Senate…
Surveillance “Reform”: The Fourth Amendment’s Long, Slow, Goodbye
Over 16 years after the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent repeated passage or renewal of draconian “temporary” but “emergency” domestic surveillance laws in response, it’s…
Exporting the Rendition Project: From the U.S. to Central Asia?
Although it’s been over a decade, the rendition planes that transferred suspects to CIA black sites still cast long, dark shadows over human rights and the rule of law, and their…
Protecting a Free and Open Internet: My testimony before the House Commerce Committee
The free movement of data across borders is critical to economic growth, has benefits for data security, and promotes privacy, speech, and associational rights. Yet, increasingly…
Terrorist Financing: A Backgrounder
Ed. note. This post is the latest in our series on the U.S. Supreme Court case Jesner. v. Arab Bank, a case that is slated to resolve the question of whether corporations can…
It’s Time to Pass Legislation Governing a Key Part of the Government’s Hacking Policy
An example of the splash screen from the Petya malware that was suspected of relying on an exploit developed by the U.S. National Security Agency. It’s well known that government…
National Security-Related Congressional Hearings, October 2-7
Tuesday, October 3 9:30am – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — Nomination of John M. Mitnick to be General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security…
How US Surveillance Helps Repressive Regimes—the Ethiopia Case
Recent stories from Edward Snowden’s disclosures show how the US government’s involvement with Ethiopia presents a case study in enabling repressive regimes to carry out…
Method to the “Madness”: Dissecting Roger Stone’s Statement to Congress, by a Former Fed Prosecutor
Dissecting Roger Stone’s statement was a very different exercise than my prior dissections of statements by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., and Michael Cohen. Stone’s statement…
What the FISA Warrants Against Paul Manafort Tell Us About Mueller’s Investigation
The Trump-Russia saga has more characters than War and Peace and plot twists harder to follow than Game of Thrones. So making sense of the latest news – that the FBI had…