Effective Oversight of Large-Scale Surveillance Activities: A Human Rights Perspective

Daragh Murray, Pete Fussey, Lorna McGregor, and Maurice Sunkin explore the international human rights law implications of state surveillance. Today, state surveillance involves the large-scale collection and analysis of digital data—activities which allow for widespread monitoring of citizens. And while commentary on the legality of these bulk surveillance regimes has focused on whether this routine… Continue reading Effective Oversight of Large-Scale Surveillance Activities: A Human Rights Perspective

The NSA’s New SIGINT Annex

Previously been published in Lawfare (Jan. 15, 2021), in this paper David Kris reviews new National Security Agency guidance designed to regulate signals intelligence (SIGINT) activity that implicates US persons’ privacy and the Fourth Amendment. Officially an annex to the manual of rules governing all DOD elements—DOD Manual 5240.01—the new “SIGINT Annex” replaces the prior… Continue reading The NSA’s New SIGINT Annex

Gathering Intelligence: Drifting Meaning and the Modern Surveillance Apparatus

Since its implementation in 1981, Executive Order 12,333 has served as a general charter governing the structure and operations of the Intelligence Community. While legislation has imposed a degree of added judicial and congressional oversight, the executive branch continues to retain sole discretion over large swathes of foreign intelligence activity today. Over the past several… Continue reading Gathering Intelligence: Drifting Meaning and the Modern Surveillance Apparatus