Law Enforcement
715 Articles
Moving Beyond the “Going Dark” Frame
For more than a year now, this site has posted dozens of articles critiquing the US government’s claims that it needs a method of accessing encrypted digital communications…
National Security Letters and Leak Investigations
Journalists were reminded again last week of how little legal protection actually exists when the federal government decides to investigate national security leaks. In an ongoing…
James Comey’s Default-Encryption Bogeyman
FBI Director James Comey recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption routinely poses a problem for law enforcement. He stated that encryption has “moved from…
Settlement of NYPD Muslim Surveillance Lawsuits: A Platform for Better Oversight
Last week, the City of New York agreed to settle two federal lawsuits challenging the NYPD’s surveillance of American Muslims, promising to reform the rules that govern how the…
Content Is Content, No Matter How Small
Recently, Orin Kerr and I had a brief conversation on Twitter regarding the Fourth Amendment and the content/non-content distinction. Specifically, Orin asked those of us who subscribe…
A Few Keystrokes Could Solve the Crime. Would You Press Enter?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons Suppose a laptop were found at the apartment of one of the perpetrators of last year’s Paris attacks. It’s searched by the authorities pursuant…
ISIS in the United States: Which Legal Regime Applies?
Consider the following hypothetical: It is 10:00pm in Times Square, New York City. The “city that never sleeps” is bustling with tourists, Broadway shows, street performers,…
The FBI Should Stop Undermining Norms Before They Take Root
Reports surfaced last month suggesting that Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has been helping the FBI crack Tor, the secure browsing application used by privacy-conscious Internet…
Cy Vance’s Proposal to Backdoor Encrypted Devices Is Riddled With Vulnerabilities
Less than a week after the attacks in Paris — while the public and policymakers were still reeling, and the investigation had barely gotten off the ground — Cy Vance, Manhattan’s…
Cross-Border Data Requests: A Response to Greg Nojeim
Editor’s note: This post also appears on Lawfare. Last week on Lawfare, Greg Nojeim responded to — and raised a set of questions about — our proposed framework for dealing…
The Government Should Stop Rewarding Bad Policies for Police Body Cameras
Body cameras have major potential to increase police accountability. However, without informed policies governing their use, they might not only fail in this goal, they could actually…
Cross-Border Data Requests: A Proposed Framework
Editor’s note: This post also appears on Lawfare. We’ve both written and spoken extensively (for example, here, here, here, here, and here) about issues related to cross-border…