How to Hold the NSA Accountable

Privacy, Transparency, and Accountability in the NSA's Bulk Metadata Program, Alan Rubel, in Adam D. Moore (ed.), Privacy, Security, and Accountability: Ethics, Law, and Policy. London, UK: pp. 183-202 (2015)

Are There Alternatives to Bulk Collection?

Bulk Collection of Signals Intelligence: Technical Options (2015)

"The Bulk Collection of Signals Intelligence: Technical Options study is a result of an activity called for in Presidential Policy Directive 28, issued by President Obama in January 2014, to evaluate U.S. signals intelligence practices. The directive instructed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to produce a report within one year "assessing the feasibility of creating software that would allow the intelligence community more easily to conduct targeted information acquisition rather than bulk collection." ODNI asked the National Research Council (NRC) -- the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering -- to conduct a study, which began in June 2014, to assist in preparing a response to the President. Over the ensuing months, a committee of experts appointed by the Research Council produced the report."

Inside GCHQ

GCHQ: inside the top secret world of Britain's biggest spy agency, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger and Luke Harding, The Guardian, August 1, 2013

Inside the U.S. Intelligence Facility at Pine Gap in Australia

Desert Secrets, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 2013

Aspen Security Forum: Interview with General Alexander, Director of the NSA

Clear and Present Danger: Cyber-Crime; Cyber-Espionage; Cyber-Terror; and Cyber-War, Aspen Institute, streamed live on July 18, 2013    

During this interview, General Alexander discusses the NSA surveillance program.

General Counsel for the DNI Defends NSA Surveillance Program

Intelligence official defends mass gathering of phone data, David G. Savage, July 19, 2013, Los Angeles Times

Tension between tech companies and NSA

Rift on display between tech industry, White House over NSA requests, Charles Cooper, CNET News, July 18, 2013  

This article includes the full-text of a petition from tech companies to President Barack Obama for greater transparency about demands for user data.

Key dates in the evolution of NSA surveillance

FISA 101: 10 key dates in the evolution of NSA surveillance, Katherine Jacobsen, The Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 2013

The Secrecy of the FISA Court: Competing Viewpoints

Surveillance court too secretive: Our view, Editorial Board, USA Today, July 18, 2013

FISA court 'works well as it is': Opposing view, Steven G. Bradbury, July 18, 2013

Japan and SIGINT

Japan dropped plan for eavesdropping network, still relies on U.S., Yoshihiro Makino, July 19, 2013

Is the NSA an American Stasi?

The NSA's an American Stasi? Outrageous 

 "East Germany's secret police was an entirely different — and far more dangerous — animal"

Standing to Challenge NSA Surveillance

Standing is a concept in American jurisprudence in which a party has the right to make a legal claim. In general, an individual or organization filing the suit must demonstrate that they have suffered an actual injury due to the conduct in question. The standing rule prevents, in many cases, lawsuits filed on behalf of others. The standing rule also prevents lawsuits by a party that has not suffered an actual injury, but the potential for injury exists. For instance, the fact that the National Security Agency is conducting a surveillance program, along with the mere possibility that a specific individual might be caught up in the dragnet, is potentially insufficient to meet the standing criteria without evidence that the specific individual actually was impacted by the surveillance. 

Before the United States Supreme Court this month is the case of Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, in which the plaintiffs seek prospective relief from the NSA surveillance program called "Stellar Wind". The following link is to a page maintained by the American Bar Association on the case.

Clapper v. Amnesty International USA