FISC

All 11 judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court will rehear an ACLU claim that it has standing to assert a First Amendment right to see FISC decisions upholding the government’s bulk data collection program.

The hearing appears to be just the second time in the FISC’s history that it has publicly stated that it will meet en banc (it is unclear whether it has held secret en banc sessions).

No holds are barred as a freewheeling panel of cryptographers and security pros duke it out with me and the Justice Department over going dark, exceptional access, and the Apple-FBI conflict.

On Friday, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorized the extension of the NSA's collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act until November 29th, 2015—the latter date marking the end of a transition to new, narrower surveillance rules imposed by the USA Freedom Act.