December 22, 2016

Surveillance Policy in a Trump Administration

Last week, co-authors Michèle Flournoy, Richard Fontaine, and I released a Center for a New American Security report on the future of surveillance policy.  The full report is available here; video of the launch event at Google DC is here.  Peter Margulies analyzed the report last week on Lawfare here.

Our report offers 61 policy recommendations, ranging from the legal standard for government access to communications content, encryption, risk management in SIGINT decisionmaking, PPD-28 and other international surveillance-policy issues, and other topics.  Collectively, the recommendations would enhance privacy and strengthen public confidence, protect U.S. technology leadership, and address international challenges attributable to surveillance policy—without sacrificing existing capabilities needed for law enforcement, counterterrorism, or other lawful purposes.

In the midst of an eventful transition, the key question is what surveillance policy might, and should, look like in a Trump administration.  This post will examine what our approach can offer the new administration, given what its incoming members have said about surveillance issues and the commitments that the President-elect himself has made on the campaign trail.

Read the full article at Lawfare.

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia