Events and Press
It's Time for Congress to Sunset NSA's Call Data Program
Board Member Edward Felten opinion, The Hill, March 11, 2020.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, of which I am a member, recently issued a comprehensive public report on the government's use of the now-defunct call detail records (CDR) program under the USA FREEDOM Act. The report includes never before released facts about the program and its compliance and data integrity challenges that ultimately led the National Security Agency (NSA), wisely, to suspend the program in early 2019.
N.S.A. Phone Program Cost $100 Million, but Produced Only Two Unique Leads
New York Times on the Board’s Call Detail Records Report, February 25, 2020
A disputed program that allowed the National Security Agency to gain access to logs of Americans’ domestic calls and texts yielded only one significant investigation, according to a newly declassified study.
N.S.A. Phone Program Cost $100 Million, but Produced Only Two Unique Leads
Statements From The Board’s May 31, 2019 Public Forum on the USA Freedom Act Telephone Call Records Program
The Board Releases Inventory of Active Oversight Projects and Other Initiatives
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board today released an inventory of its active oversight projects and other initiatives. Notably, the release discloses for the first time, after clearance by the agency, the subject of the Board’s “deep dive” review of a classified activity conducted by the NSA. The inventory also describes several previously unannounced projects approved by the Board in early 2017.
The Board Welcomes Senate Confirmation of New Members
The Senate has confirmed the nominations of Aditya Bamzai and Travis LeBlanc to serve as Members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. With these confirmations, the independent, bipartisan Board will have a full slate of Members for the first time since 2016. The Senate also confirmed the re-nomination of Board Member Edward Felten to a new six-year term.
The Board To Examine Use of Facial Recognition and Other Biometric Technologies in Aviation Security
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has voted to initiate three new oversight projects, including a review of the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies in aviation security.
As security agencies digitize, oversight must keep up
Chairman Adam Klein and Board Members Edward Felten and Jane Nitze opinion, The Hill, June 21, 2019.
Our agency, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, was created by Congress to oversee the enhanced powers granted to the federal government in response to the 9/11 attacks. Increasingly, effective oversight means ensuring that agencies use digital technologies only for lawful and appropriate purposes. As with consumer protections, however, technology threatens to overtake analog-era constraints on national-security programs.
The Board Held a Public Forum on the USA Freedom Act Telephone Call Records Program
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Chairman Adam Klein and Board Members Edward Felten and Jane Nitze have announced a May 31, 2019 public forum in Washington, DC to examine the USA FREEDOM Act and the government’s call detail records (CDR) program under that law. Several key provisions of the USA FREEDOM Act will sunset in December unless they are reauthorized by Congress.
Expert panelists included:
•Jamil N. Jaffer, Founder and Director of the National Security Institute and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School and George Mason University;
•Susan Landau, Bridge Professor of Cyber Security and Policy in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the School of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Tufts University;
•Jonathan Mayer, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University;
•Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute;
•Caroline Lynch, Founder and Owner of Copper Hill Strategies, former Chief Counsel of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations;
•Michael Bahar, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland’s Global Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice, Former Minority Staff Director and General Counsel for the US House Intelligence Committee.
The Board to Hold a Public Forum on the USA Freedom Act Telephone Call Records Program
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Chairman Adam Klein and Board Members Edward Felten and Jane Nitze have announced a May 31, 2019 public forum in Washington, DC to examine the USA FREEDOM Act and the government’s call detail records (CDR) program under that law. Several key provisions of the USA FREEDOM Act will sunset in December unless they are reauthorized by Congress.
Podcast: Surveillance and Oversight, Implications for US Leadership
Chairman Adam Klein addressed students at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs on the topic of surveillance and oversight, implications for US leadership.