2nd Circuit Rules Phone Dragnet Exceeds Section 215
Here's the opinion. This will be a working thread.
(27) LOL! I love this line, which was surely written for Sam Alito.
Appellants here need not speculate that the government has collected, or may in the future collect, their call records.
(28)…
Ten Goodies USA F-ReDux Gives the Intelligence Community
Update, November 20, 2015: I've updated (and corrected, in the case of the parallel construction loophole) this post here.
Amid renewed tactical leveraging from Mitch McConnell, USA F-ReDux boosters continue to remain silent (or worse,…
McConnell Prepares to Retreat to Short-Term Reauthorization
The National Journal yesterday quoted John Cornyn admitting that Republican Senate Leadership may have a short term Section 215 reauthorization in the works.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said his chamber would not address…
The Double-Edged Sword of Counter-Proliferation Spying
When Congress passed FISA Amendments Act in 2008, they added language approving of spying for counterproliferation purposes. One of three known certificates under Section 702 is for counterproliferation. President Obama's Directive purporting…
As FBI Considers Declaring State Secrets over Its Religion Training, ICE Releases Its Martyrdom Border Entry Questions
Three years ago, CAIR-MI sued the Department of Homeland Security and FBI because Muslims crossing the US-Canadian border keep getting asked questions about their religion. The suit has proceeded with CAIR getting discovery that largely remains…
Unlike the Existing Phone Dragnet, USA F-ReDux Does Not Include "Telephony" in Its Definition of Call Detail Record
As part of a larger effort to get some people who understand the intersection of telephony and Internet technologies well to review the chaining process that would be introduced under USA F-ReDux, I want to compare the definitions of Call Detail…
Sony, the White House, and 10 Downing Street: What's the Quid Pro Quo?
Lots of ugly things crawled out of Sony Pictures Entertainment's emails leaked by hackers this past autumn.
The leak of emails and intellectual property, including then-unreleased film The Interview, was labeled “a serious national security…
emptywheel Coverage of USA F-ReDux, or, PRISM for Smart Phones
This post will include all my coverage on USA F-ReDux.
Ten Goodies USA F-ReDux Gives the Intelligence Community
USA F-ReDux's boosters often suggest the bill would be a big sacrifice for the Intelligence Community. That's nonsense. This…
Congress Finally Gets Around to (Secretly) Tracking Section 215 Dragnets
There’s one transparency related aspect of USA F-ReDux that appears to be a necessary improvement over Leahy’s version.
Congress is mandating the Intelligence Community report (to the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, but not to…
FBI's Pen Registers without Any Call Records
There’s one more aspect of the transparency procedures in USA F-ReDux I find notable (in addition to the IC’s sudden unwillingness to share the scope of Section 702 and the fact that FBI will get all the returns from CDR searches, as opposed…
Back Door Searching the Data Coming into FBI's Front Door
As I noted, the big takeaway of the changes to USA F-ReDux’s transparency provisions is that, after having given us a topline number for Section 702 collection, the IC has decided it can no longer do so. I provided some reasons why that might…
Bob Litt: That Bill I Wrote Looks Great on First Read
Supporters of USA F-ReDux are hailing Bob Litt's comments approving of the bill.
“On first read, the new version of the USA Freedom Act looks like it accomplishes the president’s goals and will preserve important intelligence capabilities,”…
How to Break the Law Under USA F-ReDux: The Emergency Provision that Would Blow Up the Bill
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
As remarkable as was the House Judiciary Committee's impotence to protect the Fourth Amendment in yesterday's markup of USA F-ReDux, of equal importance was Raul Labrador's effort to more…
John Ratcliffe, US Attorney until July 2008, Says He Did Back Door Searches
As I noted, Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe made an interesting admission during yesterday's debate over USA F-ReDux in the House Judiciary Committee.
He said he had benefitted from back door searches -- the discussion was specifically…
USA F-ReDux's "Transparency" Provisions and Phone-PRISM
I'm going to make an unpopular argument.
Most observers of USA F-ReDux point to weakened transparency provisions as one of the biggest drawbacks of the latest version of the bill. They're not wrong: transparency procedures are worse, remarkably…
Will Economists Replace Lawyers as First Against the Wall?
The field [economics] is filled with anxious introspection, prompted by economists’ feeling that they are powerful but unloved, and by robust empirical evidence that they are different.
The Superiority of Economists, by Marion Fourcade,…
Nine Members of Congress Vote to Postpone the Fourth Amendment
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
John Conyers, Jim Sensenbrenner, Darrell Issa, Steve Cohen, Jerry Nadler, Sheila Jackson Lee, Trey Gowdy, John Ratcliffe, Bob Goodlatte all voted to postpone the Fourth Amendment…
The Loss of PRTT Minimization Review in USA F-ReDux
As I noted earlier, the House Judiciary Committee just released a new version of USA Freedom Act, which I've dubbed USA F-ReDux. I'll have a lot more to say about it, but I want to make two minor point about things that got taken out of Leahy's…
New York Times Finally Admits US Lied About Ending Afghan War
I will go ahead and say it this time. I told you so. Back in December, the Obama Administration tried its best to create the fiction that the war in Afghanistan was coming to an end. I called bullshit then. Finally, four months later, the New…
Google Applauds USA F-ReDux Because It "Modernizes" Surveillance
Thus far, none of the Internet providers who have issued statements in support of the latest incarnation of USA Freedom Act (which I'm calling USA F-ReDux) have mentioned that they will be getting expansive immunity and compensation for helping…