PCLOB
43 Articles

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board’s Disappointing Report on PPD-28 Implementation
Edward Snowden’s revelations that the NSA engaged in massive spying operations overseas prompted outrage and political blowback from our closest allies. In an attempt to manage…

Letter to the Editor: Chairman Medine’s Dedicated Service to the PCLOB Was a Testament to Bipartisanship
David Medine left the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on July 1, 2016, after three years of dedicated service and leadership as the board’s Chairman. As the board’s…

Surveillance Oversight Should Be President-Proof, But We’re Still a Long Way Off
Last week, at an event co-hosted by Just Security and NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, the NSA’s Civil Liberties and Privacy Director Rebecca Richards dropped the ball. When…

Cruz & Rubio’s Confusing USA Freedom Exchange
A few reporters have asked me about a slightly odd exchange between GOP presidential hopefuls Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz at last night’s primary debate, so I thought it might…

Senator McConnell’s Modest Proposal to Reform Section 215: Don’t!
With only 14 legislative days remaining (in the House, anyway) before Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (which the government argues, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…

The Investigation into 12333 Begins
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) voted 4–1 yesterday to conduct reviews of how Executive Order 12333 is used in counterterrorism investigations by the…

In 2007, One Judge Said No to the NSA
Last week, the government quietly released a new cache of court filings and orders from late 2006 and early 2007 that together reveal a watershed moment in the government’s effort…

The Problem With Legalism in the Surveillance State
Editor’s note: this post is a preview of ideas raised in an upcoming article by the author, Intelligence Legalism and the National Security Agency’s Civil Liberties Gap,…

Updated developments regarding FAA Section 702 and related matters
I’ve published a couple of posts here tracking some of the more important recent developments respecting Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. This post is an…

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…

The PCLOB Report and Eight Questions About Section 702
Note: The views expressed below are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of PCLOB or its other Board members. On July 2, Professor Jennifer Granick posed the question:…

UK Government Proposes Creation of its own Privacy and Civil Liberties (Oversight) Board
The U.K. government announced this week its intention to replace the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation with a new Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Board. The…