On May 7th, 2015, the Second Circuit issued a ruling that declared the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records was clearly unlawful under the Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. The ruling provided...

On Saturday, in writing about the Second Circuit's 215 decision, I mentioned the DC Circuit's pending Klayman case and its capacity to throw a wrench into the current debate: "Yes, it is possible---likel...

Lawfare is pleased to announce the publication of a new -- and timely -- paper in the Lawfare Research Paper Series: An Essay on Domestic Surveillance, by Philip B. Heymann, law professor at Harvard Law ...

Thursday's 2nd Circuit decision striking down 215 ends with a brief, and unresolved, rumination on the impact explicit congressional authorization might have on a 4th Amendment analysis---if and when suc...

From day one of the Snowden revelations, we all knew that the legal validity of the 215 program hinged ultimately on the capaciousness of a single word: "relevant." Even those of us who generally support...

A reader familiar with surveillance matters writes in with these two questions about yesterday's opinion from the Second Circuit: 1) The opinion seems to turn on the Court's belief that either not enoug...

It is clear that the Second Circuit’s ruling that the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act will have significant implications for the current legi...

The most interesting issue in the opinion concerns ratification of the FISC's interpretation of Section 215 by Congressional reauthorization of the Patriot Act.  I think the decision boils down to a judg...

As Ben notes below, the Second Circuit has handed down its ruling in the legal challenge to the bulk telephony metadata program. I have posted a summary of the Second Circuit's ruling, together with my ...

Here's the opinion. I haven't read it yet, but will have comments when I do.

Ben flagged today that the Germans have been caught out spying on friends and allies. What makes this a story is the way the Germans responded more than a year ago when Snowden’s leaks revealed that the ...

In case you needed a refresher course on European hypocrisy on surveillance and data privacy, the New York Times today obliges with two stories over which the connoisseur of human folly ought really to p...