Domestic Surveillance
298 Articles
Twitter is Suing the US Government in an Effort to Reveal Surveillance Information
Twitter filed a case in the Northern District of California (docket number 14-cv-04480) on Oct. 7 seeking a court order that would allow the company to reveal more precise information…
It’s Time to Pass the USA Freedom Act—Warts and All
Thirteen years after 9/11, the United States Congress appeared poised to begin the long overdue process of reining-in the intelligence establishment’s runaway surveillance practices.…
The Need for Both Legal and Technical Privacy Protections
Last week, Apple and Google came under intense criticism from the law enforcement and national security communities for their decisions to encrypt user data when devices are locked.…
Justice Department Proposal Would Massively Expand FBI Extraterritorial Surveillance
A Department of Justice proposal to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would make it easier for domestic law enforcement to hack into computers of people…

The Bells of September
This September 11th, I traveled with my little boy down the tree-lined beauty of Savannah to Reynolds Square where, amidst the draped Spanish Moss, historic Christ Church rang…
Renewed focus on statutory construction in the Section 215 litigation
C-SPAN videotaped Tuesday’s oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in ACLU v. Clapper, one of the primary challenges to the Section 215 telephony…
FISC OKs Section 215 Investigations of Americans, Despite First Amendment
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court declassified an opinion today which, although highly redacted, illuminates the way at least one Judge is interpreting his mandate to…
Sen. Leahy’s Latest NSA Bill: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
This morning, Senator Patrick Leahy released a new version of the USA Freedom Act, a bill intended to reform NSA surveillance following Edward Snowden’s revelations that the…
Senator Leahy Introduces Updated Version of the USA FREEDOM Act
This morning, Senator Leahy (D-Vt) introduced an updated version of the USA FREEDOM Act (full text). If you recall, in May, the House passed a version of the USA FREEDOM Act…
Status of Int’l Human Rights Law in Domestic Surveillance: What the HRW/ACLU report reveals about officials’ views
This morning, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU released a joint report on the chilling effects of domestic surveillance. The report examines, in particular, the impact of surveillance…
All The Pieces Matter: Bulk(y) Collection Under §702
In a recent guest post, Chairman David Medine of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight board gamely responds to several questions about §702 surveillance posed by my co-blogger…
Rejoinder to David Cole
In his reply to my guest post of yesterday, David Cole criticizes me for offering an imperfect defense of counter-terrorism stings. Actually, his criticism does not go far…