everything you ever wanted to know about national security letters… but were afraid to ask
TRANSCRIPT
Everything you ever wanted to know about
National Security Letters…
But were afraid to ask.
NATIONAL SECURITY LET-TERS
A Historical Background
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.”
And…
There is a nondisclosure, or “gag” order attached
An NSL requires no judicial oversight
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
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
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
Constitutionality of NSLs Challenged in Court
Doe v. Ashcroft
Doe v. Gonzales
• Violates 1st and 4th Amendment Rights
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
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
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
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
Library Action!
Educate community Destroy internet access logs daily Post privacy-loss warning signs
What will you do to protect your freedom?
OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE MATERIAL ON NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
A FEW SCARY THINGS ABOUT NA-TIONAL SECURITY LETTERS…
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.
There are no checks and balances.
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.
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.
And the data is easy to misinterpret.
How are libraries affected?
Library Connection court case
ALA’s Resolution on the Use and Abuse of National Security Letters
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.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Benjamin Franklin