In a landmark decision, Congress reauthorized and expanded Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), dramatically increasing domestic surveillance capabilities. The legislation allows warrantless access to Americans’ communications and compels a wide range of businesses …
Intelligence CommunityNSAFBIWhite HouseTech Companies+3 moresurveillance-stateintelligence-communityfourth-amendmentdomestic-surveillancefisa+2 more
The Institute for Justice files a federal lawsuit on behalf of Norfolk residents Lee Schmidt and Crystal Arrington, challenging the city’s deployment of 172 Flock Safety automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras as an unconstitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment’s …
Institute for JusticeLee SchmidtCrystal ArringtonNorfolk Police DepartmentFlock SafetysurveillanceALPRFourth-Amendmentcivil-libertieswarrantless-surveillance+1 more
In response to questions from Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amazon vice president Brian Huseman disclosed in a July 1 letter that Ring had provided police with user camera footage on 11 occasions during 2022 without obtaining user consent or court warrants. Amazon justified these warrantless …
RingAmazonBrian HusemanEd Markeyringwarrantless-surveillancepolice-accessfourth-amendmentamazon+2 more
A federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to create special software to bypass security features on an iPhone 5C used by San Bernardino terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook, triggering the most public battle over encryption in U.S. history. The FBI sought to unlock the device after the December 2015 attack …
AppleTim CookFBIJames ComeyDepartment of Justiceencryptionprivacy-rightstech-resistanceapplefbi+2 more
Apple announced that iOS 8 implements encryption so strong that the company itself cannot unlock iPhones or iPads, even when presented with a valid search warrant. This represented a dramatic escalation in the encryption debate and a direct response to NSA surveillance revelations, fundamentally …
AppleTim CookNSAFBIencryptionprivacy-rightstech-resistanceapplensa-surveillance+1 more
The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules in Riley v. California that police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested. Chief Justice John Roberts writes the landmark opinion, declaring that “cell …
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in Klayman v. Obama that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of American telephone metadata likely violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. In a strongly-worded 68-page opinion, Judge Leon …
Richard LeonNSALarry Klaymannsa-surveillancefourth-amendmentjudicial-oversightconstitutional-lawprivacy-rights
Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s PRISM program gave the government direct access to servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Apple, and other tech giants, collecting emails, photos, videos, and communications of millions of Americans. Companies initially resisted but capitulated under …
Glenn Greenwald published the first article in The Guardian based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, revealing a top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) order requiring Verizon to hand over all telephone metadata to the National Security Agency on an “ongoing, daily …
Edward SnowdenGlenn GreenwaldNSAVerizonnsa-surveillancewhistleblowingedward-snowdenmass-surveillancetelecom-surveillance+1 more
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issues classified ruling finding NSA’s warrantless surveillance programs violated the Fourth Amendment and FISA statute on a systematic basis. The court documented that intelligence agencies had misled judges about the scope and nature of surveillance …
FISA CourtNSADepartment of JusticeMichael HaydenKeith Alexander+1 morefisa-court-rulingconstitutional-violationnsa-surveillancewarrantless-surveillancefourth-amendment
FISA Court Judge Roger Vinson delivered a significant rebuke to the Bush administration by rejecting the government’s attempt to rewrite FISA statutes to permit expanded warrantless surveillance inside the United States. The government sought to stretch FISA’s definition of a …
Roger VinsonFISA CourtNSABush AdministrationDepartment of Justicefisa-courtjudicial-rebukewarrantless-surveillancefourth-amendmentconstitutional-law+1 more
The New York Times publishes an investigative piece by John Markoff exposing the full scope of the Pentagon’s Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, a $240 million initiative that aims to create unprecedented mass surveillance capabilities by mining personal data from financial …
New York TimesJohn MarkoffDARPAJohn PoindexterInformation Awareness Office+2 moresurveillanceprivacymediainvestigative-journalismTIA+3 more
President George W. Bush signed a secret executive order authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless surveillance of American citizens’ communications, codenamed ‘Stellar Wind’. This program systematically bypassed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance …
George W. BushMichael HaydenNSAAlberto GonzalesJack Goldsmith+1 morepermanent-constitutional-transformationconstitutional-bypass-mechanismssystematic-accountability-destructionstellar-windexecutive-immunity-infrastructure+6 more
President Bush signed presidential authorization for warrantless surveillance program bypassing FISA courts on October 4, 2001. Created by Dick Cheney, the NSA STELLARWIND program was classified as ’exceptionally controlled information’ and collected phone and internet metadata on …
George W. BushDick CheneyNSAMichael Haydennsa-surveillancewarrantless-wiretappingstellarwindfourth-amendmentfisa