Timothy B. Lee, “In the last few days, the press has focused on NSA leaker Edward Snowden and his efforts to evade capture by the U.S. government. But the more important story is what we’ve learned about National Security Agency surveillance programs thanks to his disclosures.” See also WaPo – NSA slides explain the PRISM… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
The Hill – Tech companies fret over loss of consumers’ trust after NSA revelations
Jennifer Martinez : “The country’s most prominent tech companies, including Google and Facebook, are scrambling to save their reputations with users following the revelations over a National Security Agency surveillance program that monitors Internet traffic to thwart terrorist attacks. Since the reports broke, tech companies have mobilized into full-on damage control mode in hopes of… Continue Reading
Autonomous Decision-Making Processes and the Responsible Cyber Commander
Prescott, Jody Mailand, Autonomous Decision-Making Processes and the Responsible Cyber Commander (June 5, 2013). Available at SSRN “As the industrialization of cyber war proceeds apace, an emerging consensus is developing that the law of armed conflict applies to those cyber operations that either do, or are intended to, injure people and damage their property. Cyber… Continue Reading
Commentary – Calling It ‘Metadata’ Doesn’t Make Surveillance Less Intrusive
By Geoff Nunberg: “Metadata” was bound to break out sooner or later, riding the wave of “data” in all its forms and combinations. “Big data” and “data mining” are the reigning tech buzzwords these days, and university faculties are scrambling to meet the surge in demand for courses in the hot new field of data… Continue Reading
Paper – NSA Spying Under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act
Follow up to previous posting, Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder – U.S. Domestic Surveillance, a new CDT Paper: “The FBI and NSA have abused Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to compel disclosure of phone records of calls made to, from, and within the United States. This surveillance is not permitted by the statute, and was… Continue Reading
UK Guardian posts the top secret rules that allow NSA to use U.S. data without a warrant
Follow up to previous postings on NSA’s big data domestic surveillance program – via UK Guardian: Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA’s surveillance of Americans’ communication Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA… Continue Reading
Linking Prevention, Detection, and Whistle-Blowing: Principles for Designing Effective Reporting Systems
Lobel, Orly, Linking Prevention, Detection, and Whistle-Blowing: Principles for Designing Effective Reporting Systems (June 2013). Symposium On Whistle-Blowing and the Regulation of Workplace Reporting, 54 S. Tex. L. Rev. 37 (2013); San Diego Legal Studies Paper No. 13-123. Available at SSRN. “This invited essay for a symposium dedicated to whistle-blowing research offers an overview of… Continue Reading
Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder – U.S. Domestic Surveillance
“Two NSA surveillance programs have been exposed in press reports in June 2013. First, a Guardian report disclosed a classified FISC court order instructing Verizon, one of the largest U.S. telecommunications firms, to hand over phone records of millions of Americans to the NSA. Amid criticism from civil rights groups, the Obama administration defended the… Continue Reading
Commentary: The PRISM – Privacy in an age of publicity
Follow up to previous postings on NSA’s big data domestic surveillance program, via The New Yorker – The PRISM – Privacy in the age of publicity by Jill Lepore, June 24, 2013: “The A.C.L.U., which last week filed a suit against the Obama Administration, has called the N.S.A.’s surveillance program, Prism, a “gross infringement” of the “right to… Continue Reading
Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to Declassify FISA Court Opinions
Follow up to previous postings – this June 11, 2013 news release: “Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), accompanied by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mark Begich (D-AK), Al Franken (D-MN), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), introduced a bill that would put an end to the “secret law”… Continue Reading
Facebook Releases Data, Including All National Security Requests
Follow up to previous postings via Facebook Newsroom: “For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the… Continue Reading
ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging NSA’s Patriot Act Phone Surveillance
Follow up to previous postings, By Brett Max Kaufman, Legal Fellow, ACLU National Security Project: “In the wake of the past week’s revelations about the NSA’s unprecedented mass surveillance of phone calls, today the ACLU filed a lawsuit charging that the program violates Americans’ constitutional rights of free speech, association, and privacy. This lawsuit comes… Continue Reading
