Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 2004 |
Jurisdiction | United States |
Headquarters | Washington, DC |
Agency executives |
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Key documents | |
Website | https://www.pclob.gov/ |
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is an
Role and operations
The purpose of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is two-fold: to analyze and review actions the executive branch takes to protect the nation from terrorism, ensuring that the need for such actions is balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties; and to ensure that liberty concerns are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of law, regulations and policies related to efforts to protect the nation against terrorism.
The Board has two main functions: (a) advice and counsel on
The Board is authorized to have access to all relevant information necessary to fulfill its role, including classified information consistent with applicable law. The Board is required to report to Congress not less than semiannually.
History
2004–2006: Creation within the Executive Office
Recommended by the
The first Board members from 2006 were Carol E. Dinkins, of Texas, Chairwoman; Alan Charles Raul, of the District of Columbia, Vice Chairman;
2007–2012: Lack of quorum
From 2007 until August 2012, the Board did not have a quorum.[citation needed]
In January 2007, H.R. 1 ("Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007"), aimed to reconstitute the board as an
On February 27, 2008, the Senate received President
In December 2010, President Barack Obama nominated two persons to the Board: Dempsey, and Elisebeth Collins Cook, a former Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice and, at the time, a partner in a Chicago law firm.[8][9][10] Those nominations expired at the end of the 111th Congress.
In January 2011, President Obama re-nominated Dempsey and Cook.
On August 2, 2012, the Senate confirmed Dempsey, Brand, Cook, and Wald,[14] but did not act upon the nomination of David Medine to be chair at that time.
2013: Independent agency begins work
In January 2013, the White House re-nominated David Medine as chair,[15] and the Senate confirmed him on May 7, 2013 in a 53–45, party-line vote.[16] On July 9, 2013, the Board held its first public workshop and its first substantive hearing on November 4, 2013.[17]
2014: Report on mass surveillance
On January 23, 2014, the board released its first report. It was the first comprehensive review of the
The report found two main problems with the NSA's surveillance program: it "lacks a viable legal foundation"[18][20] and there is "little evidence that […] NSA's bulk collection of telephone records actually have yielded material counterterrorism results that could not have been achieved without the NSA's Section 215 program."[21]
The PCLOB report argued that the legal basis for NSA surveillance programs in Section 215 of the Patriot Act, allows only the FBI to collect bulk data for investigations and that the NSA is not directly permitted to do so. The report found that the NSA's reliance on a 2004
The report said that data collected by the NSA did not contribute uniquely to any FBI criminal investigations and that the PCLOB did not find a single case where NSA surveillance programs directly contributed to the disruption of a terrorist attack. Additionally, there is only one instance where NSA data helped identify an unknown terrorism suspect. Since the NSA collects data as it is generated, the PCLOB argued that the collection process violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, could not be directed towards any specific investigation, and that the information could not be treated as relevant to any FBI investigation except in response to specific enumerated circumstances.[19] The PCLOB found no evidence of bad faith or misconduct on the part of the NSA, but that the technological complexity and vast scope of surveillance programs coupled with the potential for governmental abuse of power posed an inherent risk to Americans.
The report noted that although the FISA court was designed to hear cases regarding foreign surveillance, FISA does not provide a mechanism for the court to allow non-governmental parties to provide arguments against government surveillance proposals or otherwise participate in court proceedings.[19] As a result, there are very few appeals of FISA court decisions.
The PCLOB report recommended that the US end bulk data collection and that the FISA court judges' decision making "would be greatly enhanced if they could hear opposing views when ruling on requests to establish new surveillance programs"[19] to increase public confidence in intelligence and surveillance programs. It recommended that the government should promote more transparency to inform public debate on technology, national security, and civil liberties. Among other things, the board recommended that the FISA court should declassify its rulings and opinions of the FISA court and establish a Special Advocate board should be formed. These measures would allow citizens to bring up surveillance concerns in court, challenge government surveillance proposals, and help keep the proceedings of the court more transparent.[citation needed]
Current members
As of September 2022:
Name | Position | Term expires |
---|---|---|
Sharon Bradford Franklin | Chair | January 29, 2024 |
Beth Ann Williams | Member | January 29, 2026 |
Edward Felten | Member | January 29, 2025 |
Travis LeBlanc | Member | January 29, 2028 |
Richard DiZinno | Member | January 29, 2023 |
Criticism
Some people initially viewed the PCLOB with skepticism, since the board was convened to protect the American public against privacy intrusions by their own government.[17] Under the board's statute, only the Chairperson is a full-time employee and has the power to hire staff. Since Medine was not confirmed until May 7, 2013, it was not until after that time that the Board was finally able to begin to engage in any substantial projects.
Proposals to strengthen the Board
In 2015, Ron Wyden (D-OR) in the Senate and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-2) in the House spearheaded, along with co-sponsors Tom Udall (D-NM) and Trey Gowdy (R-SC-4), the Strengthening Privacy, Oversight, and Transparency (SPOT) Act,[22] to, as Udall stated, strengthen the PCLOB and "significantly improve the oversight and accountability of the nation's intelligence community to protect Americans' constitutional rights."[23][24]
In 2017, the House bill H.R. 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (
See also
- Title 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations
- President's Intelligence Advisory Board
- Civil Liberties Protection Officer(ODNI CLPO)
- Mass surveillance in the United States
Footnotes
- ISBN 978-0-7425-4039-2.
- ^ George W Bush (16 December 2005). "Message to the Congress of the United States on Information Sharing". Office of the Press Secretary, The White House. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- National Archives.
- ^ "Title I – Reform of the Intelligence Community" (PDF). United States Government Printing Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Max Lerner Coleen Rowley Archived 2019-09-20 at the Wayback Machine Civil liberties in times of war. PBS Now,3 April 2005
- ^ a b Garrett Hatch (November 14, 2011), Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: New Independent Agency Status (PDF), Congressional Research Service, archived (PDF) from the original on May 5, 2012, retrieved April 13, 2012
- ^ Public Law 110–53—Aug. 3, 2007. Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (PDF), intelligence.senate.gov, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-15, retrieved 2012-04-13
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- National Archives.
- ^ Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine The White House, January 22, 2013
- ^ On the Nomination (Confirmation David Medine, of Maryland, to be Chairman and Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board ) Archived 2018-09-25 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress, U.S Senate, May 7, 2013
- ^ a b Ali Watkins (November 2013). "NSA Cites stop and frisk". McClatchy. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ a b Micek, Peter; Ben-Avie, Jochai; Fox, Jon (January 23, 2014). "US privacy oversight board slams legality & usefulness bulk data collection". Accessnow.org. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Medine, David (2014-12-05). "Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted Under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court" (PDF). pclob.gov. p. 238. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ^ Spencer Ackerman in Washington (2014-01-23). "US privacy board dissenters defend balancing act of NSA surveillance". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ^ Abdo, Alex (2014-01-24). "PCLOB NSA surveillance report: Three things you need to know". Slate. Archived from the original on 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ^ Gabbard, Tulsi (2015-06-26). "Related Bills - H.R.2305 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): SPOT Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
- ^ "Udall Bill Would Strengthen Ability of Privacy Oversight Board to Protect Americans' Constitutional Rights | U.S. Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico". www.tomudall.senate.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ Rep. Michael “Mike” Rogers [R-MI8]. "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 3523)". GovTrack.us. Archived from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
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General references
- Public Law 110-53, Title VIII (August 3, 2007).
- "Dempsey Nominated for Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board". Benton Foundation. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
External links
- Official website
- Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in the Federal Register
- 6 CFR Chapter X of the Code of Federal Regulations from the OFR
- CRS report for Congress with more information
- C-SPAN Video Library: Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
- NSA surveillance programs (1) Legal Perspectives Jul 9, 2013
- NSA surveillance programs (2) Technical Perspectives Jul 9, 2013
- NSA surveillance programs (3) Policy Perspectives Jul 9, 2013
- White House website at the Wayback Machine (archived January 22, 2009)