Our mission is to advocate in the public arena and before Congress for guidelines and audits to hold these secret programs accountable to constitutional and statutory protections. |
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution affirms our right to be secure in our “persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” |
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Unmasking
When American citizens get caught up in foreign surveillance, intelligence agencies and powerful public officials can “unmask” their identities, supposedly on strict need-to-know rules. Recent high-profile controversies and multiple investigations reveal a potential to use unmasking to conduct political surveillance against political rivals. Such unmasking continues to risk sharply. |
Parallel Construction
FISA exists to enable the U.S. government to conduct counterintelligence and counter-terrorism operations legally. When other criminal activity is incidentally discovered, it can be noted and passed on to the appropriate authorities. But FISA was never meant to be a treasure trove for traditional law enforcement agencies, a massive database of intercepts from foreign communications and international telephone records that is used to investigate and prosecute U.S. citizens on matters unrelated to national security. |