The latest news and comment on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
April 2024
US Senate votes to renew Fisa surveillance program
The US isn’t just reauthorizing its surveillance laws – it’s vastly expanding them
Caitlin Vogus
November 2017
Trump wants to keep our draconian surveillance laws. Don't let him do it
Trevor Timm
A spying provision that allows warrantless access to our emails is being debated in Congress. We must all urge our representatives to oppose it, writes Trevor Timm
October 2016
ACLU takes on Fisa court over secret decisions on surveillance laws
Motion argues that first amendment requires panel to release classified decisions from 2001 to 2015 that formed foundation of government’s surveillance activities
Yahoo email spying claims prompt warning from UN rights tsar
David Kaye, special rapporteur on freedom of expression, says government monitoring of digital communications undermines individual privacy online
Yahoo email surveillance: who approved the secret scanning program?
Neither the tech company nor the government will say who greenlighted custom program to scan users’ emails, but secret Fisa court and FBI are possibilities
September 2016
Snowden disclosures helped reduce use of Patriot Act provision to acquire email records
Leaks in 2013 helped shift FBI away from using controversial Section 215 to acquire internet metadata, US justice department watchdog finds
April 2016
US foreign intelligence court did not deny any surveillance requests last year
Why does the court charged with protecting our privacy keep doing the opposite?
Trevor Timm
November 2015
The NSA's bulk metadata collection authority just expired. What now?
Chelsea Manning column
Fisa courts stifle the due process they were supposed to protect. End them
Chelsea E Manning
June 2015
Secret court approves NSA bulk collection one last time: 'Plus ça change …'
Why does a Fisa court decide if Twitter can talk about its dealings with Fisa?
Hannah Bloch-Wehba and Bruce Brown
Obama lawyers asked secret court to ignore public court's decision on spying
Back from the dead: US officials to ask secret court to revive NSA surveillance
October 2014
Trevor Timm column
NSA defenders think they can make surveillance reform vanish. This is how wrong they are
Trevor Timm
Trevor Timm: A dirty trick by politicians will come back to haunt them if a looming fight exposes the motherlode of spying power – and shuts off the data vacuum
July 2014
Trevor Timm column
The surveillance state can't even keep track of how many people it's spying on anymore. Time to close the loopholes
Trevor Timm
Trevor Timm: A government authorized to search innocent people. Multiple agencies seeking a backdoor into your data. It's all coming to a head – and internal reports aren't going to cut it
June 2014
Fisa court grants extension of licence for bulk collection of US phone records
Court denies access to Fisa surveillance documents in Adel Daoud terror case
March 2014
Senate NSA critic urges Barack Obama to end bulk data collection now
Ron Wyden says 'president ought to make the transition right away' instead of waiting for Congress to pass legislation
