“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 to make use of information “inadvertently” collected from domestic US communications without a warrant. The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence… Continue Reading
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Search Results for: FISA
Declassified FISA Court Opinion Released – Addresses Legality of Phone Metadata Collection
Ellen Nakashima – Washington Post: “A federal surveillance court on Tuesday released a declassified opinion upholding the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s sweeping collection of billions of Americans’ phone records for counterterrorism purposes. The gathering of “all call detail records” from phone companies is justified as long as the government can show that it… Continue Reading
FISA Court Orders Declassification Review of Rulings on NSA
ACLU: “In an important decision, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered the government to review for release the court’s opinions on the meaning, scope, and constitutionality of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. The ruling is on a motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital, and Yale Law… Continue Reading
FISA court ruling on illegal NSA e-mail collection program
Washington Post – Ellen Nakashima, “The National Security Agency unlawfully gathered as many as tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-discontinued collection program, according to a 2011 secret court opinion [redacted]. The 86-page opinion, which was declassified by U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, explains why the chief… Continue Reading
Additional Declassified Documents Relating to Section 702 of FISA
“Created at the direction of the President of the United States, IC ON THE RECORD provides immediate, ongoing and direct access to factual information related to the lawful foreign surveillance activities carried out by the U.S. Intelligence Community.” Continue Reading
Brookings Examines John Roberts Appointments to FISA Court
Russell Wheeler: “Among his non-judicial duties, the Chief Justice of the United States selects sitting federal judges to serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in addition to their regular judicial duties. A recent New York Times article reported that ten of the court’s 11 current judges, all selected by Chief Justice John G. Roberts,… Continue Reading
TRAC – New Information on FISA Judges
“Central to the growing dispute about the legality and value of the very extensive electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) is the secret federal court that approves the search warrants authorizing the NSA’s world-wide efforts. While the operations of both the NSA and the decisions of what is now incorrectly called the Federal… Continue Reading
LA Times Editorial – Privacy and the FISA court
“Though most Americans have little idea what it does, the FISA court is extremely influential. Thanks to a leak by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, we now know that it was the FISA court that decided, in a secret opinion, that the telephone records of millions of Americans could be acquired and stored… 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
Report – Applications Made to FISA Court During Calendar Year 2011
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legislative Affairs, Applications Made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court During Calendar Year 2011, submitted pursuant to sections 107 and 502 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, 50 U.S.C. Sec. 1801 et seq., and section 118 of USA PATRIOT Improvement Act and Reauthorization Act of… Continue Reading
EFF – House Hearing on Warrantless Wiretapping and the FISA Amendments Act
News release: “This morning, the House Judiciary Committee held an important hearing on the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) and the scope of the NSAs warrantless wiretapping program. The FAA, which gutted privacy protections governing the interception international phone calls and e-mail to and from the United States, is set to expire at the end of… Continue Reading
FAS: Counterintelligence Surveillance Under FISA Grew in 2011
Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood: “In 2011, the US Government submitted 1,745 applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for authorization to conduct electronic surveillance or physical searches under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), according to a new annual report to Congress. Of these, 1,676 included requests for authority for perform electronic surveillance, the report… Continue Reading
