Surveillance
680 Articles
UN Human Rights Committee’s Report on US Compliance with the ICCPR: National Security Highlights
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued its Concluding Observations (full text) assessing US compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights…
Some Questions About the President’s Phone-Records Proposal
In the New York Times, Charlie Savage reports that the administration intends to propose legislation that would end the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records. The legislation…
An End to Dragnet Surveillance?
The New York Times report that President Obama will call for an end to the bulk collection of American’s telephone metadata is yet further vindication for Edward Snowden in particular,…
President Obama Will Seek to Curb (End?) Section 215 Bulk Collection
In a story being reported this evening by Charlie Savage of The New York Times, it appears that President Obama is preparing to announce a legislative proposal that will seek…
International Proscriptions on Mass Surveillance (or What’s Missing in the Greenwald vs. Wittes Debate)
[Editor’s Note: On Tuesday, Ben Wittes and Ashley Deeks over at Lawfare replied to the following post. And Ryan has since posted a rejoinder to Ben and Ashley.] This weekend’s…
The So-Called Huawei Scandal and the Snowden Operation
We should spy on China. And Russia. And Iran. And plenty of other countries too. They are our political, diplomatic and economic competitors and enemies. And they spy on us. If…
Coverage of the U.S. Proceedings Before the Human Rights Committee Available
A video archive of the United States proceedings before the Human Rights Committee in Geneva is now available here. The Committee released its summary of the proceedings, which…
DiFi vs CIA
More than a few folks have commented on the irony of Sen. Dianne Feinstein—perhaps the most vigorous defender of NSA’s controversial surveillance programs—flipping into…
How President Obama can fulfill his promise to end bulk collection of telephone metadata, while preserving intelligence capabilities
On January 17, President Obama promised to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of metadata on Americans’ phone calls under “section 215” (which is really…
The PCLOB Report and the Need for Executive Branch Constitutional Enforcement
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been both praised and criticized for the conclusions of its recent report on NSA bulk metadata collection: that the program…
ACLU Takes Phone-Records Challenge to Appeals Court
The ACLU has just filed its opening brief in the Second Circuit in its challenge to the NSA’s phone-records program. The brief—the first appellate brief to be filed in any…
The Elephant in the Room: The FBI
Commissions, oversight boards, and review groups are all the rage these days. Recent weeks have seen hundreds of pages of reports evaluating American intelligence agencies, and…