everything you ever wanted to know about national security letters… but were afraid to ask
TRANSCRIPT
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Everything you ever wanted to know about
National Security Letters…
But were afraid to ask.
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NATIONAL SECURITY LET-TERS
A Historical Background
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What is a National Security Letter?
From FBI website:
“A letter request for information from a third party that is issued by the FBI or by other government agencies with authority to con-duct national security investigations.”
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And…
There is a nondisclosure, or “gag” order attached
An NSL requires no judicial oversight
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The Birth of National Secu-rity Letters
1986 Amendment to the Right to Finan-cial Privacy Act (RFPA)
Allows the FBI to obtain financial records and personal information without ad-vance notice as a part of terrorism or espionage investigations
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Increased Legal Authority for NSLs
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
Telephone, e-mail, billing records, and subscriber information
Amendment to the Fair Credit Report-ing Act (FCRA)
Consumer Credit History Information
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USA Patriot Act
•Passed October 2001
•Meant to expand resources in identifying threats to national security
•Entities considered “relevant” can be in-vestigated
•Approval authority of NSLs decentral-ized
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Constitutionality of NSLs Challenged in Court
Doe v. Ashcroft
Doe v. Gonzales
• Violates 1st and 4th Amendment Rights
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In the meantime…
Patriot Act up for renewal USA Patriot Act Improvement and
Reauthorization Act of 2005 Clarifies:
1. NSL recipient may disclose receipt when seeking legal counsel
2. Non-disclosure order does not automati-cally attach to NSL
3. Judicial review of non-disclosure require-ment accompanying NSL
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Does go to a Higher CourtMay 2006
Judge Cardamone writes concurring opinion:
“a ban on speech does not fit comfortably with the fundamental rights guaranteed American citizens.”
• The U.S. 2nd Court of Appeals hears Doe v. Ashcroft and Doe v. Gonzales
• Returned to lower courts due to revisions made to the Patriot Act earlier in the year
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The Department of Justice Gets In-volved
• As a part of the Patriot Act Reauthoriza-
tion the Office of the Inspector General is required to investigate the use of NSLs
• March 2007 report states that the FBI violated regulations in use of National Security Letter authority
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ALA on NSLs
NSLs violate 1st Amendment Rights
• ALA is against government suppression of the right to intellectual freedom
• Urges Congress to enact greater oversight of NSL usage and eliminate “gag” order provision
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Library Action!
Educate community Destroy internet access logs daily Post privacy-loss warning signs
What will you do to protect your freedom?
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OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE MATERIAL ON NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS
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National Security Letters in Foreign Intelli-gence Investigations: Comparison of National Security Attributes
Addressees and Certifying Officials Purpose, Standards, and Information
Covered Confidentiality Judicial Review Dissemination Liability, Fees, and Oversight
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Department of Justice Inspector Gen-eral’s Report
Review NSL issuance 2003-2004, and 2005-2006
100 FBI employees from headquar-ters and 50 FBI employees from na-tional field offices interviewed
Examined FBI’s NSL tracking data-base
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Department of Justice Inspector Gen-eral’s Report
NSLs reported by FBI (by year): 2000: 8,500 NSLs 2003: 39,000 NSLs 2004: 56,000 NSLs 2005: 47,000 NSLs
The Inspector General found these numbers to be flawed:
Inaccurate informa-tion in database
Information not en-tered consistently into database
Some information from the database was missing
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Department of Justice Inspector Gen-eral’s Report
Errors were made be-cause:
FBI gathered incorrect information
Gathered some infor-mation without a NSL
Mistakes in letters, causing confusion
Violations: Improper authoriza-
tion of NSLs Improper requests of
information Unauthorized collec-
tions of information
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Department of Justice Inspector Gen-eral’s Report
Recommendations Create control files for signed copies of
letters Improve NSL database Better guidance over issuance of NSLs
from FBI field offices Tagging of information from NSL re-
quests-learn how and when the infor-mation is used in criminal proceedings
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FBI’s Response to Inspector General’s Report
NSLs valuable after 9/11 as an inves-tigative tool
Director Robert S. Mueller has or-dered corrective measures to be taken Stronger internal controls Improve oversight of NSL approvals Expedited inspection
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“Library Group Tells of A Gag Order by the FBI”
Library Connection-central computer system in Hartford, Connecticut
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) v. Gonzales Originally filed as Doe v. Gonzales Peter Chase (Library Connection Vice
President of Board of Directors): “John Doe”
Other Library Connection members: George M. Christian, Barbara Bailey, Janet Nocek
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ALA’s Resolution on the Use and Abuse of National Security Letters
ALA’s stance Want to protect
privacy rights of patrons and em-ployees
Believe free thought should be protected
Resolutions Condemns use of
NSLs for obtain-ing library records
Wants Congress to propose pro-tective reforms
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National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007
Introduced to the House of Repre-sentatives by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY) on July 26, 2007
Proposes several procedural protec-tions for NSLs
The act was referred to the Sub-committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on Sep-tember 10, 2007
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A FEW SCARY THINGS ABOUT NA-TIONAL SECURITY LETTERS…
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Your privacy is at risk.
You don’t have to be connected to a terrorist investigation to have an FBI file.
Your records can be retained indefi-nitely.
Your information can be shared within the government and with pri-vate businesses.
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There are no checks and balances.
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If you’re issued one, you can’t talk about it.
Recipients cannot disclose the fact that they have received an NSL or discuss it with anyone other than a lawyer.
Library Connection members were not even allowed to attend their own court case anonymously because of the gag order.
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They’re easy to misuse.
Justice Department audit found nu-merous misuses of NSLs.
FBI internal audit found more than 1,000 instances of misuse.
Businesses are not allowed to chal-lenge NSLs for at least 1 year.
The FBI has been compensating phone companies for access to records.
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And the data is easy to misinterpret.
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How are libraries affected?
Library Connection court case
ALA’s Resolution on the Use and Abuse of National Security Letters
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But don’t worry, it’s not all bad news. In September
2007, a federal judge ruled that NSLs were uncon-stitutional.
National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007 has been proposed.
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“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Benjamin Franklin