Category Archives: NSA

Dear Sheikh Talal bin Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa,

I understand you are President of Bahrains National Security Agency (NSA), appointed by your relative the King of Bahrain last August under 2016s royal decree 66.

I write out of concern for human Rights defender Ebtisam Al Saegh, who I understand has been in NSA custody since July 3 when men wearing masks and carrying weapons seized her from her home.

According to reports I have received she has undergone a series of long and abusive interrogations over the last 10 days, some lasting more than 12 hours. For instance, I understand that she was removed from Isa Town Womens Detention Centre at 9am yesterday morning and not returned until 3 am this morning, and was again taken at noon today.

Those who have seen her are seriously alarmed about her health, and fear that she might be left with a permanent disability.

Two days after she was taken, her family lodged complaints with the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman Office and the National Institute for Human Rights. The following day - July 6 - masked men again raided her home, took all the mobile phones in the house, and said "your mother didn't cooperate with us.

As you know, she was previously summoned for interrogation by the NSA on May 26 and held for seven hours. On her release she was hospitalized, injured and traumatized. She said during those hours she was forced to stand throughout the interrogation, blindfolded, and sexually assaulted. She also says she was threatened with rape. She told me she was severely beaten and punched on the head and different parts of the body when she used human rights terms to describe her work, and that her interrogators threatened to harm her children.

I have known Ebtisam al Saegh for six years and I know she is not a liar. She told me that during the torture she was questioned about other Bahraini activists, about myself and about Human Rights First.

Im sure you are aware of the international outcry there was over what happened in May, and about her latest arrest, and the increased scrutiny the NSA now faces. Her case has been raised at the U.S. State Department and in the British parliament.

Since the NSAs powers of arrest were restored earlier this year, following devastating criticism of the agency and the stripping of some of its authority in 2011, a series of reports have emerged of detainees being tortured in NSA custody. We fear the abuse of Al Saegh is not an isolated incident.

Sheikh Al Khalifa, as president of the NSA you have some serious questions to answer about the conduct of those under your supervision.

Can you tell us how you have investigated the allegations of torture made in May, what your findings were and what action you have taken?

Can you also explain why Ebtisam Al Saegh has not been allowed access to a lawyer in the last 10 days, or why her family have not been permitted to see her?

Will you commit to investigating all allegations of mistreatment or torture committed by the NSA and hold those responsible to account?

Sheikh Al Khalifa, I am one of many worried about what is happening to Ebstisam al Saegh. Your speedy answers to these questions would be appreciated by us all.

The Morning Email

Wake up to the day's most important news.

Read this article:
Questions for Head of Bahrain's NSA 10 Days After Ebtisam al Saegh's Arrest - HuffPost

Early last month, Director of National Intelligence Dan CoatsDan CoatsGranting NSA permanent bulk surveillance authority would be a mistake Sessions, deputy AG to tour Guantanamo Bay prison The Memo: GOP pushes Trump to curb Mueller attacks MOREreneged on a promisethat the National Security Agency would provide an estimate of just how many Americans have seen their communications collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It was the same broken promise made to Congress by his predecessor, James Clapper.

Indeed, for the past six years, the NSA has flummoxed congressional oversight with its reluctance to give lawmakers this kind of hard data. And yet, despite this pattern of obfuscation of promising transparency and then dialing back said promisesCongress is now debating a bill that would give immense power to that same agency.

The legislation, which has left many privacy advocates aghast, comes in the form ofa proposalby Sen. Tom CottonTom CottonOvernight Finance: GOP goes after arbitration rule | Bill allocates .6B for Trump border wall | Fed officials cautious on rate hike | McConnell aiming for debt vote before August recess Overnight Regulation: GOP senator aims to repeal arbitration rule | Feds to rethink fuel efficiency fines | EPA moves to roll back restrictions on Alaska mine Lawmakers press Sessions over online gambling MORE (R-Ark.) for a so-called "clean" reauthorization that would leave the current Section 702 intact. Of course, it isn't actually clean, in that Cotton's bill would remove the sunset provision that forces the program to expireDec. 31unless Congress explicitly re-authorizes it. In other words, even as Coats now deems it infeasible that the NSA will ever tell Congress how many Americans have been surveilled under Section 702a number that likely would shock the conscienceCotton wants to ensure 702 is never up for debate again.

Coatsexplainedto the Senate Intelligence Committee last month that the NSA ended about collectionthat is, the practice of collecting digital communications in which a foreign target is mentioned, but is not the sender or recipientdue to technical limitations on the agency's ability to protect wholly domestic communications. However, he didnt rule out resuming about collection if the agency discovers a technological fix. Paul Morris, deputy general counsel for operation at the NSA,toldthe Senate Judiciary Committee several weeks later they might decide to come back to it anytime. NSA representatives also havewarnedthey would oppose a permanent legislative ban on this type of collection.

A recurring theme from law-enforcement and intelligence community representatives in recent House and Senate hearings is that technological developments can drastically change how government conducts surveillance. But even as agency representatives tell us how rapidly surveillance methods change, a permanent reauthorization of current surveillance methods presumes that future revolutions in technology won't affect Americans relative privacy. Not long ago, few could have conceived of an email or that it would become a major tool of communication.

If the intelligence community decides to resume about collection, a method proven to have violated Americans rights in the past, Congresss oversight role should not be hamstrung by a permanent reauthorization. Eliminating the law's sunset provision would limit Congress's ability to revisit these questions and examine exactly how surveillance methods might change in the future. With far-reaching technological change always looming, Congress must periodically revisit the legal authority behind these intelligence tools both to ensure they remain effective at protecting the nation, and that adapting an old law to new technologies doesnt open the door to abuse.

Establishing a sunset for the program shouldnt be anathema to those who are primarily concerned with national security. To the contrary, it is the best way to ensure the program remains viable and accomplishes the purpose of keeping Americans safe. Permanent reauthorization would limit any attempts to modify surveillance. It also increases the risk of another leak and public outcry, which easily leads to a knee-jerk reaction. Intelligence agencies could shy away from reasonable and effective procedures, absent any obligation to report to congressional oversight.

A kid genius working from a basement today may change the way our systems work tomorrow, crippling the effectiveness of Section 702 or opening the door to abuse. Giving law enforcement and the intelligence community's great power without built in opportunities to revisit that authorization would be a disservice to the security and civil rights of the American people. In the end, the most critical reform to Section 702 might already be part of thestatus quo.

Arthur Rizer(@ArthurRizer)is the national security and justice policy director at the R Street Institute, and Ashkhen Kazaryan (@Ashkhen) is an affiliated fellow at the non-profit TechFreedom.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

See more here:
Granting NSA permanent bulk surveillance authority would be a mistake - The Hill (blog)

A high-ranking official of the National Security Agency said in a talk here Wednesday that the electronic surveillance agency is working to improve its public relations in the wake of Edward Snowdens damaging leaks.

Jonathan Darby, the NSAs deputy chief of cybersecurity operations, said the agency realized it had to get out and talk more about what we do after Snowden in 2013 revealed ways in which U.S. spy agencies collect phone, email and other communications.

Darby contended that most of the Snowden-related stories in 2013 were twisted or dead-out wrong, and he pushed back on a movie glorifying the former NSA contractors actions, saying the leaks put peoples lives at risk.

Snowden fled to Moscow in June 2013 after he was identified as the source of information several newspapers printed about previously undisclosed NSA surveillance programs. Snowden remains in Russia, where he was granted asylum until 2020.

Before an audience of 180 at a Lancaster Rotary Club luncheon, Darby portrayed the NSA as scrupulously law-abiding and completely accountable to Congress and the courts.

If the law does not affirmatively give us the authority to take an action, we can not and we will not do it, said Darby, a Montana native who joined the NSA in 1983 as a foreign language analyst. We do not independently decide what to collect.

He said the $11-billion NSA is a joint military-civilian spy agency with the dual mission of intercepting foreign communications and protecting U.S. government communications.

This spy agency spies. Thats what we do, legally and within policy guidelines, he said.

Darby stressed that the NSA does not spy on Americans at home or abroad unless a federal judge approves it.

Also, if the communications of an American are intercepted incidentally through the valid targeting of a foreigner, the Americans communication is masked, he said. The procedures, in place for decades, have government and court approval, he said.

Darby defended a program, up for Congressional renewal this year, that allows the NSA to compel a U.S. communications company to turn over communications of noncitizens outside of the United States.

Saying the program prevents terrorist attacks, Darby pointed to the 2009 arrest of a man who planned a bombing on a New York City subway.

Darby pushed back against the perception that the NSA indiscriminately vacuums up all communications around the world.

He said the quantity of data the NSA collects is analogous to a dime on the floor of a basketball court.

Darby said NSA employees take an oath to defend the Constitution, including its guarantees of civil liberties.

Some will say that (strict oversight and legal restrictions) ties one arm behind our back, Darby said. As an NSAer, I say, Damn straight. Thats fine. Thats who we are as a country.

Asked about allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Darby said the NSA joined with the FBI and CIA in coming to that assessment.

It goes back to, Heres the facts, Darby said. We laid out the facts.

On cybersecurity, Darby said the country increasingly understands the threats to the nations computer networks and that existing security measures arent adequate for the long term.

Link:
Edward Snowden's leaks has NSA in damage-control mode, spy agency official tells Lancaster audience - LancasterOnline

As the border standoff between India and China in Doka La, Sikkim continues, reports said that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is likely to visit Beijing for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) NSAs meeting scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 July.

If the NSA does end up visiting Beijing, it will be a crucial trip and a probable step to resolve the almost-month-old border dispute.The Indian Express also reported that the meeting will be hosted by Doval's counterpart and Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi. Both Doval and Jiechi are special representatives designated by their respective governments to discuss border issues.

File image of Ajit Doval. AFP

India on Thursday had maintained that the current border standoff in Doklam would be resolved diplomatically, similar to how all its disputes with Beijing in the past had been solved using diplomatic channels.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay had said diplomatic channels were "available" to the two countries that would continue to be used.

He had referred to a "conversation" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg last week "where they spoke on a range of issues".

"As far as the Doklam issue is concerned, you know we have diplomatic channels. Embassies are there in both the countries and those channels will continue to be used," Baglay had said in his weekly media briefing.

India and China are locked in a standoff in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector near the Bhutan tri-junction for over three weeks after the Chinese army attempted to build a road in the disputed narrow stretch of land.

Doklam is the Indian name for the region which China refers to as Donglong.

Asked about the provocative statements from China and the Chinese media over the border issue, the spokesperson had said that the government had "clearly laid out" its position and approach to deal with the matter.

"We have referred to how the two governments have been engaged in the last few years in addressing this issue, the boundary matter and the tri-junction. We have also mentioned understandings between the two countries," he had said.

Baglay had referred to Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's speech in Singapore earlier this week when he had said that India and China have handled their border issues in the past and there was no reason why they would not be able to deal with it this time.

"He (Jaishankar) referred to the understanding between the two leaders (Modi and Xi) which essentially underlines the approach we are following in this regard. So, we are very much seized of the matter, we are very much sure of the approach that is being taken and that is where it stands," the spokesperson had said.

On Wednesday, Chinese foreign office spokesman Geng Shuang had dismissed Jaishankar's remarks, saying the "trespass" by the Indian troops in Doklam was different from the "frictions in the undefined sections of the boundary" between India and China.

Asked if Modi and Xi particularly talked about the Doklam issue, Baglay had refused a direct reply, saying, "I would leave it to your imagination and common sense to summarise what can be covered in the range of issues."

With inputs from PTI

View original post here:
India-China border row: NSA Ajit Doval likely to visit Beijing for BRICS NSAs meeting on 27 and 28 July - Firstpost

As India resolvesto dissolve the Sikkim sector border standoff with Beijing through diplomatic channels, all eyes are on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval'slikely visit to Chinafor BRICS NSAs' meeting on 27 and 28 July.

If the NSA does end upvisitingBeijing, it will be a crucial trip and a probable step to resolve the almost-month-old border dispute. However, at a time when China remains unyielding in the face of the current crisis, Doval's traditional tough stance against Beijing raises doubts over whether any meaningful progress can be expected from his visit.

File image of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval with China's State Councillor, Yang Jiechi. PTI

Doval, who was famously characterised as 'the hawkish Doval' by former RAW chief AS Dulat, is known for his hardliner stance in negotiating border disputes with China.

His rare public interactions, since he assumed office of NSA, have revealed that Doval prefers depending on military solutions over ceding ground in compromises. When India's traditional policy in handling border disputes with its neighbours has propagated a defensive approach, it was Doval who pitched the concept of defensive-offensive and offensive foreign policy.

It was under Doval's leadership that India carried out surgical strikes against Pakistan, and it was the current NSA who remarked that 'India would not compromise on its territorial interests and sovereignty,' when asked about his views on negotiations with China.

An article inAsia Timesin 2016 commented on the said statement of Doval: "He (Doval) said at the Munich Security Conference in New Delhi in October 2014 that 'India would not compromise on its territorial interests', when the very purpose of the meetings of the Special Representatives of the two countries is to seek a compromise on the dispute."

The impact of Doval's policy views, which clearly pervades Modi government's foreign policy, has been markedly different from his predecessors so much that his ideas on China, Pakistan and India's territorial disputes are now commonly referred to as the Doval doctrine.Firstpost looked at his selective public remarks mostly made duringhis Nani Palkiwala Memorial Lecture, 2014 and the Lalit Doshi Memorial Lecture, 2015 to help decode his views on China in context of the current border row.

Answering a question about tackling China's growing might, Doval conceded that China's militaryis much more stronger than India, even as the former Intelligence Bureau directorhailedIndia's missile technology. He said that it was tough for India to match China's might in the next fifty years, but he advocated ramping up missile technology to target China's economic installations, which he said were the Dragon's only vulnerable spot.

These remarks were made during a public interaction on 27 August, 2010, as shown in this YouTube video, however,Firstpostcould not independently verify the source's veracity. Doval's past comments on China's 'bottomless territorial hunger' assumes importance in these times, as the NSA's visit to Beijing in the coming week could be a make-or-break situation on India-China border stalemate.

The NSA's past comments become crucialalso becauseChina is slowly increasing its naval presence in Indian Ocean region and has carried out military exercises in Tibet, even as the border standoff in Sikkim is going on.

Another report inThe Times of India,quoted Doval's remarks at theMunich Security Conference in 2014. Doval had said that even though relationship with China are "very important", India must not compromise on issues of sovereignty. "I would like to develop our relations to such an extent till the time our territorial and integral sovereignty ... we would not able to compromise on it," Doval said.

Doval's remarks gain significance at atimeChina isramping up the anti-India rhetoric,in what it views as an unprecedented dispute with New Delhi. India and China are locked in a standoff in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector near the Bhutan tri-junction for over three weeks after the Chinese army attempted to build a road in the disputed narrow stretch of land. China has made it clear that back channel negotiations will only bear fruit after India withdraws its troop.

It will be interesting to see whether Doval sticks to his hardliner approach towards Beijing at a time when China too shows no inclination to compromise. TheAsian Timesarticle had compared Doval's approach to his predecessors. The article stated, that while Narendra Modi under Doval's influence has stuck to requesting China to'reconsider' its received positions on existing disputes with India, Doval's predecessorBrajesh Mishra had clocked considerable progress in Sino-India ties and had been hopeful of reaching positive results.

See the original post:
Ajit Doval likely to visit China: NSA's famed 'Doval doctrine' and deconstructing India's stand on Beijing - Firstpost

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Rajnath Singh called a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the situation in the wake of the killing of Amarnath pilgrims by terrorists and decided to focus on upgrading the technology used to gather intelligence and security apparatus of the country.

NSA Ajit Doval, top officials of the home ministry, intelligence agencies and central paramilitary forces attended the meeting.

Security experts present in the meeting said registration of vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims and a relook at the way forces were deployed in various parts of J&K were among the top priorities for the Centre. What is also important is that there should be no backlash in any part of the country. We have asked all states to monitor that, a senior official said.

Immediately after the meeting, NSA briefed PM Modi about the deliberations as well as steps taken to enhance security on the Amarnath route (see map), sources said. A high-level team led by MoS for home Hansraj Ahir visited J&K to assess the security situation. MHA officials also said they were in regular touch with Gujarat to ensure the families of the dead and injured were informed and assisted with necessary help.

Earlier in the day, J&K deputy CM Nirmal Singh admitted to security lapses, and said officials would investigate why the bus was allowed to travel after 5 pm. The security protocol for the annual pilgrimage bars vehicles from moving after sundown.

Excerpt from:
Rajnath, NSA assess situation at high-level security meeting - Economic Times

The parent company of The Intercept online news outlet announced Tuesday that it is helping the legal defense of the Augusta suspect in the National Security Agency leak investigation. At the same time, The Intercept admitted some fault in Reality Winners predicament.

The ongoing criminal case prevents us from going into detail, Intercept editor-in-chief Betsy Reed wrote online Tuesday, but I can state that, at several points in the editorial process, our practices fell short of the standards to which we hold ourselves for minimizing the risks of source exposure when handling anonymously provided materials.

The U.S. Justice Department has accused Winner of leaking to The Intercept a top-secret NSA report about Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The Intercept published the report, which says Russian military intelligence officials tried to hack into the U.S. voting system just before last Novembers election.

Owned by First Look Media, The Intercept provided federal officials a copy of the classified information, court records show. Investigators said the pages appeared "folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secured space." They quickly identified six people who had printed the materials, including Winner, and found she had email contact with the news agency.

The government has until Aug 2. to translate 302 pages from the former government contractor's handwritten notes from Farsi into English.

Read more:
Owner of The Intercept assisting accused NSA leaker's legal defense - Atlanta Journal Constitution

Donald Trump Jr. is an odd fellow. Like his father, President Trump, Trump Jr. spends much of his time sending out emotional and somewhat confusing tweets.

Earlier today, however, Trump Jr. released emails confirming Trump campaign efforts to collude with the Russian government. We can say this with confidence because of his tweet below.

Note the email line from Rob Goldstone: "This obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump helped along by Aras and Emin."

That line has relevance for three reasons.

First, because Aras and Emin Agalarov (father and son) are well-known intermediaries (or "cutouts, the formal intelligence community term) for the Kremlin. But this email indicates they were intermediaries for the most sensitive element of Russia's 2016 election intelligence operation: communications with the Trump campaign regarding the anti-Clinton effort.

As I explained last week, Russian intelligence, and Putin in particular, thrive on using cutouts to conduct sensitive intelligence activities. In effective terms, one could replace "helped along by Aras and Emin" with "helped along by Igor and Sergey" (the heads of Russia's GRU intelligence service).

Second, Goldstone's clarification ("part of Russia and it's government's support for Mr. Trump") is offered at face value. That strongly implies Goldstone already knew that Trump Jr. knew what the Russians were doing.

Third, the meeting took place after this email exchange. That's the crunch point. It shows that Trump Jr. was willing to meet with a hostile foreign government in the pursuit of information that would damage a U.S. political opponent.

Now don't get me wrong here, I recognize that campaigns often seek out "dirt" on opponents. But the difference in this case is quite simple. It's the Russian government. Only an idiot or a traitor would seek to form an alliance with Russian intelligence and hope it ends up positively.

There's one final takeaway here: The nature of Agalarov publicist and former British journalist, Rob Goldstone. Why is he relevant? Again, for intelligence reasons.

As I've noted before, there are major differences between the U.S. intelligence relationship with the Five-Eyes intelligence alliance and, say, France. But because Goldstone has a sustaining relationship with Russian intelligence intermediaries (Agalarovs), he has almost certainly been under the attention of British intelligence services.

Based on his failure to secure his Facebook profile, I would assess that Goldstone is not a very operationally secure man. Correspondingly, it is very likely that every phone and email conversation Goldstone had was recorded by GCHQ, the British equivalent of the NSA. There is likely much more to this story than we currently know.

What does all this mean?

As former NSA officer John Schindler, put it to Washington Examiner, "we are still in the early stages" of what will eventually become public. Still, Schindler adds that this is big news for a simple reason.

We've never had a key person in any administration a core person in Trump's business empire and the current First Family admit to collusion with a hostile government in a presidential election. Considering that government and its intelligence services are known by our spy agencies to have illegally and clandestinely aided in Trump's election in 2016, the implications of this revelation are obvious and deeply troubling.

See the original post:
How the intelligence community is decoding Donald Trump Jr.'s emails - Washington Examiner

Print Monday 10th July, 2017 Accra, July 10, GNA - Frederica Mensah-Davies, the Public Relation Officer of the National Sports Authority (NSA) says the NSA does not know exactly when renovation works at the Accra Sports Stadium would start. Three sections of the Accra Sports Stadium (VVIP, VIP and Media Stands) were closed down last week due to its deplorable state. Mrs Mensah-Davies told the GNA Sports that it was appropri

Accra, July 10, GNA - Frederica Mensah-Davies, the Public Relation Officer of the National Sports Authority (NSA) says the NSA does not know exactly when renovation works at the Accra Sports Stadium would start.

Three sections of the Accra Sports Stadium (VVIP, VIP and Media Stands) were closed down last week due to its deplorable state.

Mrs Mensah-Davies told the GNA Sports that it was appropriate to close down the stands to avoid any unforeseen disaster.

She said the decision to close the stands was as a result of a directive from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and that the NSA does not know exactly when the renovation works would begin.

"The VVIP, VIP and the Media Stands are in a bad state and very risky for people to sit there, so the Minister told us to close it down as soon as possible.

"We do not know when the renovations would begin but I am sure the Minister is working hard on it. They have to secure procurement and I think it would take some time.

"We have not been given any exact date but I think they would start work after this league season, Frederica Mensah-Davis said.

GNA

More here:
Renovation works yet to start on Accra Sports Stadium NSA - Ghana News Agency

The following op-ed was co-authored by Ashkhen Kazaryan, an affiliated fellow at TechFreedom.

Early last month, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coatsreneged on a promisethat the National Security Agency would provide an estimate of just how many Americans have seen their communications collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It was the same broken promise made to Congress by his predecessor, James Clapper.

Indeed, for the past six years, the NSA has flummoxed congressional oversight with its reluctance to give lawmakers this kind of hard data. And yet, despite this pattern of obfuscation of promising transparency and then dialing back said promisesCongress is now debating a bill that would give immense power to that same agency.

The legislation, which has left many privacy advocates aghast, comes in the form ofa proposalby Sen. Tom Cotton,R-Ark., for a so-called clean reauthorization that would leave the current Section 702 intact. Of course, it isnt actually clean, in that Cottons bill would remove the sunset provision that forces the program to expireDec. 31unless Congress explicitly re-authorizes it. In other words, even as Coats now deems it infeasible that the NSA will ever tell Congress how many Americans have been surveilled under Section 702a number that likely would shock the conscienceCotton wants to ensure 702 is never up for debate again.

If the NSA will not honor promises to Congress and civil-society groups nowwhen 702, a program Coats has called thecrown jewel of the intelligence community, is up for reauthorizationhow is the public to trust the agency will honor privacy and liberty when the program becomes law in perpetuity? Make no mistake, this is not fear mongering. This is a constitutional issue where the very notion of checks and balances between the branches of government is quietly under threat.

Coatsexplainedto the Senate Intelligence Committee last month that the NSA ended about collectionthat is, the practice of collecting digital communications in which a foreign target is mentioned, but is not the sender or recipientdue to technical limitations on the agencys ability to protect wholly domestic communications. However, he didnt rule out resuming about collection if the agency discovers a technological fix. Paul Morris, deputy general counsel for operation at the NSA,toldthe Senate Judiciary Committee several weeks later they might decide to come back to it anytime. NSA representatives also havewarnedthey would oppose a permanent legislative ban on this type of collection.

A recurring theme from law-enforcement and intelligence community representatives in recent House and Senate hearings is that technological developments can drastically change how government conducts surveillance. But even as agency representatives tell us how rapidly surveillance methods change, a permanent reauthorization of current surveillance methods presumes that future revolutions in technology wont affect Americans relative privacy. Not long ago, few could have conceived of an email or that it would become a major tool of communication.

If the intelligence community decides to resume about collection, a method proven to have violated Americans rights in the past, Congresss oversight role should not be hamstrung by a permanent reauthorization. Eliminating the laws sunset provision would limit Congresss ability to revisit these questions and examine exactly how surveillance methods might change in the future. With far-reaching technological change always looming, Congress must periodically revisit the legal authority behind these intelligence tools both to ensure they remain effective at protecting the nation, and that adapting an old law to new technologies doesnt open the door to abuse.

Establishing a sunset for the program shouldnt be anathema to those who are primarily concerned with national security. To the contrary, it is the best way to ensure the program remains viable and accomplishes the purpose of keeping Americans safe. Permanent reauthorization would limit any attempts to modify surveillance. It also increases the risk of another leak and public outcry, which easily leads to a knee-jerk reaction. Intelligence agencies could shy away from reasonable and effective procedures, absent any obligation to report to congressional oversight.

A kid genius working from a basement today may change the way our systems work tomorrow, crippling the effectiveness of Section 702 or opening the door to abuse. Giving law enforcement and the intelligence communitys great power without built in opportunities to revisit that authorization would be a disservice to the security and civil rights of the American people. In the end, the most critical reform to Section 702 might already be part of thestatus quo.

Image byg0d4ather

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/341230-granting-nsa-permanent-authority-for-bulk-surveillance-would-be#.WWOP7CFYzqU.twitter

The Hill

The rest is here:
Granting NSA permanent bulk surveillance authority would be a mistake - R Street