NSA

In this surveillance-heavy episode [Please use that link; we're still having trouble with the embed code], Professors Chesney and Vladeck dig into a raft of news about foreign-intelligence collection authorities. They open with an overview of how Section 702 collection authority works, and then unpack the recent news that NSA is dropping the “about” collection component of Upstream collection under 702.

The mystery as to why there was no Section 702 application or certification reported for 2016 has now been solved (I'm assuming readers know today's big 702 news, flagged by Quinta here, and as explored in detail by Charlie Savage in this article): NSA has been struggling to resolve a problem with "about" collection under the Upstream heading, including in particular a problem with analysts quering the fruits of that c

Section 702 is coming up for renewal later this year, and it is clear we'll be hearing a lot in that context about the impact of SIGINT collection activities on US person communications. When that topic comes up, inevitably there follows at least a brief reference to the Church Committee's exposure of Operation SHAMROCK and Operation MINARET. In light of all this—or perhaps just because I love archival finds—I'm writing this post to capture some 1940s history that helps us better understand those 1970s revelations—and how if at all they pertain to today's controversies.

Last year, Laura Donohue of Georgetown published a new book that will be of interest to readers: "The Future of Foreign Intelligence: Privacy and Surveillance in a Digital Age." The blurb for the book reads: