Law Enforcement
715 Articles

A New Lawsuit from Microsoft: No More Gag Orders!
Microsoft is once again making headlines via litigation over government’s use of the Stored Communications Act. For the past two years, it was Microsoft’s lawsuit challenging…

The Human Rights Risks of Countering Violent Extremism Programs
With national and international institutions scrambling to adopt Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs, the UN Special Rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben…

ODNI Response on Increased Intelligence Sharing Still Leaves Questions and Concerns
In late February, The New York Times reported that the administration was preparing to expand sharing of the mass signals intelligence collected by NSA pursuant to Executive Order…

Bye-Bye Birdie: reddit’s Warrant Canary Disappears
Sometimes, saying nothing says quite a lot. At the end of January 2015, the online bulletin board reddit issued a “transparency report” that informed its users, and the broader…

Four Takeaways From State v. Andrews
On Wednesday, an appellate court in Maryland handed down a major loss to the government, one that will send police and prosecutors back to the drawing board (or at least back to…

The New Intelligence Sharing Procedures Are Not About Law Enforcement
[Editor’s Note: The author composed this analytic essay while serving as General Counsel for the Director of National Intelligence.] There has been a lot of speculation about…

We Need to Know More About When the FBI Can Access One of the NSA’s Biggest Databases
Americans have learned quite a bit about electronic surveillance since Edward Snowden leaked a massive trove of classified documents almost three years ago. And while we still…

FBI Discovers It Can Access That iPhone After All
Update: The FBI is now explicitly denying that the method described in this post is the one they’re planning to employ — so apparently my suspicion was mistaken and they…

A friendly critique of the proposed Chesney/Vladeck “middle ground” in the Apple/FBI disputes
Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck have published an excellent and provocative post today concerning the recent All Writs Act disputes between the government and Apple. I agree with…

Update from the European Frontlines: The Battle for Belgium
The dramatic footage of counterterrorism raids in Belgium emerging on our news screens over the last few days is a sharp contrast to the perceived inaction that characterized the…

The FBI Wants Schools to Spy on Their Students’ Thoughts
Imagine you’re a high school principal. An FBI document lands on your desk. It’s called “Preventing Violent Extremism in Schools,” and it’s alarming. According to the…

DOJ’s appeal to district court judge from Magistrate Orenstein’s rejection of Apple All Writs Act order
is here; I have not yet read it. It will be considered by Judge Margo Brodie.