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

The Server Will Bewitch You Shortly
It’s been a little over a year since Bernie Sanders assured America that the public was “sick of hearing” about Hillary Clinton’s “damn e-mails,” and to put it mildly,…

The Drone Memos—The Book
My new book, The Drone Memos, will be published on November 15. It’s a collection of the most important legal and policy documents relating to the U.S. drone campaign, preceded…
New UN Report Highlights Freedom of Expression Violations Across the Globe
UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, yesterday issued his fourth report, a comprehensive survey…

Mass Hacks of Private Email Aren’t Whistleblowing, They are at Odds With It
The Exxon Valdez after leaking more than 10 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in March, 1989. Image via NOAA/Wikimedia The world of 2016 is one where…
The Dangerous Implications of the Microsoft Ireland Case
Yesterday evening, the government filed its petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc in the Microsoft Ireland case. Throughout the brief, the government warns of both the…

International Law and Proposed U.S. Responses to the D.N.C. Hack
In a short essay in Foreign Policy, retired Admiral James Stavridis addresses recent election season cyber operations against the Democratic National Party that the U.S. has attributed…
Hot off the Presses: DOJ Rehearing Petition in the Microsoft Ireland Case (Full Text)
DOJ filed the attached motion tonight, seeking rehearing or reaching en banc in the Microsoft Ireland case. In the government’s words: “The [panel] Opinion has created…
“A First Amendment in the Digital Age”—Peter Zenger Lecture
I had the honor of delivering the inaugural Peter Zenger lecture at Columbia Journalism School last week. The lecture is named for a newspaper publisher who was tried for libel…
Are Companies Bulk-Scanning E-mails for Spy Agencies?
UPDATE: Charlie Savage and Nicole Perlroth have an article in The New York Times resolving quite a few of the questions raised here; I’ve added comments as appropriate.…
The UK Snooper’s Charter and the Anderson Report on Bulk Powers
In August, the UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, David Anderson QC, released his “Report of the Bulk Powers Review”. He was asked to undertake the review…
Correcting the Record on Section 702: A Prerequisite for Meaningful Surveillance Reform, Part III
In our previous posts, we’ve argued that the NSA is collecting massive amounts of data about US citizens under conditions that have nothing to do with terrorism or national…
Just Security’s Questions for Clinton and Trump
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national…