Sharon Bradford Franklin Must Continue as PCLOB Chair to Strength National Security and Civil Liberties

​The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent agency since 2007, is a watchdog tasked with ensuring that federal counterterrorism programs have adequate safeguards for privacy and civil liberties.
 
It was only a few years ago that PCLOB was criticized for appearing more like a lapdog than a watchdog. After taking six years to study Executive Order 12333, which authorizes limited forms of surveillance outside of any statutory authority, PCLOB produced a public paper in 2021 that read like a high school book report. But under Sharon Bradford Franklin, Chair since February 2022, PCLOB has been a source of active inquiry and pinpoint distinctions that inform and enrich public debate on government surveillance.
 
“Chair Bradford Franklin’s service is marked by balance,” said Bob Goodlatte, former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Senior Policy Advisor for PPSA. “She has been a strong advocate for transparency in intelligence operations while respecting the need to enable classified programs that protect our homeland.”
 
It was under Bradford Franklin’s leadership that the PCLOB Board reviewed the government's implementation of Presidential Policy Directive No. 28 (PPD-28), providing critical insights into how the intelligence community collects foreign intelligence. Her reports have been used by agencies as active guides on how to be both effective and compliant with the law.
 
With the expiration of Bradford Franklin’s term as Chair, both the civil liberties community and the intelligence community should want her to be re-nominated. Her absence could disrupt critical reviews and oversight functions important to the United States and our European allies, including the review of privacy and civil liberties safeguards under Executive Order 14086 and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Some of our colleagues warn that the European Commission particularly values PCLOB’s oversight, and the absence of a Chair could jeopardize trans-Atlantic data flows.
 
This one’s a no-brainer: The re-nomination of Sharon Bradford Franklin would ensure that PCLOB remains an independent watchdog that strengthens both civil liberties and national security.