More than seven years after Congress mandated it and EFF sued to pry them loose, the government released seven heavily-redacted but previously classified rulings from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that shed new light on how the secret court interprets key provisions of the laws that authorize mass surveillance.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the redacted versions as required by the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015. More details about the rulings are below. But before diving in, it’s important to understand the significance of the disclosure given the government’s long-standing refusal to make these rulings public. You can also read previously released opinions here.
The government’s concession came after years of pressure, activism, and litigation from EFF and other groups that sought to hold the Executive Branch to the law.
In addition to reforming the country’s mass surveillance programs, USA FREEDOM required the government to release all significant opinions and orders of the FISC and the secret appeals court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISC-R). EFF fought to include this provision in the law with the hope that the disclosures would finally allow the public, including civil rights and civil liberties groups, as well as legal scholars, to access court rulings that determine people’s rights to be free from surveillance.
Disclosure was essential because after 9/11, the FISC’s role expanded. Congress originally created the FISC to operate as a warrant court, approving government requests for surveillance on individualized foreign targets. But after 2001, on
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