National Security

I was proud to serve at NSA sixty years ago. It was more secretive then, we joked that the initials stood for “no such agency” but we were serious about never revealing anything about our work outside of the highly protected confines of our particular departments. We didn’t talk about work with colleagues who didn’t have the need to know. We didn’t even disclose where we worked. And nobody talked shop on the outside.

It’s different today. There is a Cryptography Museum that’s open to the public, and a dedicated exit on the GW Expressway with a big sign that says NSA Employees Only. Retired civilian employees are the docents. On a recent visit, I recognized the collegial spirit in those retirees that I had remembered from my days there. Like my contemporaries, they were proud of their work. We were part of a vast network often called the “intelligence community” and our purpose was to keep America safe by being vigilant for threats. It was our job to see threats to America coming and warn those in a position to respond. The early 1960’s were the years of the cold war, and it was a battle of covert actors. Russian agents contacted people I knew, attempted to compromise them, failed, and were apprehended.

Next month Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is due for reauthorization. It is a critical and controversial part of U.S. intelligence law that authorizes the government to collect foreign intelligence information on non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, without obtaining a traditional warrant.

What It Does

• Targets foreigners abroad: Section 702 allows the NSA (National Security Agency) and other intelligence agencies to target non-U.S. citizens overseas for surveillance purposes.
• Collects communications: This includes emails, phone calls, and internet data—especially communications that travel through U.S.-based infrastructure.
• No warrant for foreigners: U.S. law does not require a warrant to surveil foreign nationals outside the country, though oversight is required.

Why It’s Important to U.S. Security

1. Prevents terrorism: Intelligence gathered under Section 702 has been credited with disrupting plots and identifying terrorists and other national security threats.
2. Tracks foreign adversaries: It helps monitor activities of foreign spies, hackers, and state actors like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
3. Supports cyber defense: The provision plays a key role in identifying and countering cyber intrusions and ransomware attacks coming from abroad.
4. Informs policymakers: Section 702 intelligence is often used to brief the President, military, and diplomats on foreign threats and global developments.

Controversies and Criticisms

• Incidental collection: Sometimes, Americans’ communications get swept up (“incidentally”) when they are in contact with foreign targets.
• Backdoor searches: U.S. agencies (like the FBI) have used Section 702 databases to search for information about U.S. citizens without a warrant, raising civil liberties concerns.
• Calls for reform: Civil rights advocates and lawmakers across the political spectrum have called for tighter controls, more transparency, and warrant requirements for U.S.-person queries.

Current Status

The next deadline for reauthorization is April 2025 (it was last extended temporarily in 2024).

Section 702 is not a permanent law—it must be reauthorized periodically by Congress.

This renewal is coming up framed by SignalGate, the security scandal where our highest level of leadership in the Trump administration flagrantly violated basic security practices and divulged secret information to the editor of Atlantic Magazine.

It also coming when NSA is being forced by DOGE to reduce its personnel.

At the same time, the administration is defying and seeking to discredit and intimidate a former FISA judge, one who was cleared and trusted to hear cases about security matters, because he’s probing the unlawful deportation and imprisonment of alleged Venezuelan gang members — some of whom were evidently snatched only because they had tatoos.

The manifest lack of honor and the disregard of the law displayed by the current administration leaves me to wonder if they can be trusted with the powers granted by Section 702. Will they disregard the guardrails and order NSA to spy on political enemies here at home?