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

New Counterterrorism Program in Los Angeles: Suspicious Thought Reporting?
The FBI is teaming up with local police in Los Angeles to roll out a new approach to prevent domestic terrorism, called RENEW for “Recognizing Extremist Network Early Warnings.”…

The Investigatory Powers Act: The Official Entrenchment of Far-Reaching Surveillance Powers
What was formerly known as the Investigatory Powers Bill, referred to elsewhere as the “revised Snoopers’ Charter,” has received Royal Assent and, as of Nov. 29,…

Foreign Gov’t Assistance to Trump Administration Policies: What Int’l Law Prohibits
The policies of the incoming Trump Administration may spell legal trouble for cooperation between the United States and its allies in important areas of national security. One…

Trump’s Whistleblowers—Whether Limited Pardons for Manning and Snowden Makes Sense Now
Whatever you might have previously thought about the notion of President Barack Obama pardoning Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, the election of Donald Trump changes everything.…

Investigating Surveillance Around Standing Rock
An anonymous Facebook plea recently went viral, asking people to check in to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to thwart police surveillance of the Dakota Access pipeline protesters.…

Surveillance and Anti-Press Sentiment Heightens Concerns for Journalists Closer to Home
In 1999, Amartya Sen argued that the health of a country could be determined by examining the health of its press. One metric of the fitness of a country’s press is the safety…

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…