Intelligence and Privacy

In the public debate over national security, there has been growing bipartisan concern that constitutional safeguards against arbitrary government invasions of privacy are being eroded in the name of national security. In the wake of September 11, many longstanding prohibitions on government surveillance powers were revoked-with little public discussion or debate. While domestic intelligence operations have expanded dramatically, the role of the courts in checking executive use of such broad surveillance power has become smaller and smaller.

Human Rights First works closely with government agencies, members of Congress and independent advocates to protect personal privacy against unreasonable intrusions by the government in the name of national security. For background on developments in intelligence gathering and personal privacy, see Chapter 2 (PDF 606 KB) of our report, Assessing the New Normal.