Curious about surveillance? FOIA has answers.

Many Americans are curious about electronic surveillance by the federal government. Conveniently, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has already helped provide some answers. Although much of the interest and attention arises from journalism in recent days (here, here, here, and here, and related stories), America has had various agencies conducting various forms of surveillance for various purposes for years. For over a decade, journalists have been using FOIA, among other means, to learn more about the surveillance capacities and activities of the federal government:

Q. Who, exactly, has been conducting surveillance?
Q. What kind of surveillance are we talking about?
Q. Who’s involved in this electronic surveillance?
Q. What do we know about surveillance and the law?
Q. What kind of oversight is there?
Q. What does surveillance cover? What do stories about surveillance reveal?
Q. Has surveillance affected the press?

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Q. Who, exactly, has been conducting surveillance?
A. Recent coverage refers primarily to the NSA. But the FBI, DHS, and DOD have also been responsible for some forms and instances of surveillance.

• “DHS social media monitoring practices revealed under FOIA” (2012)
• “More domestic intelligence at DHS?” (2010)
• “Break the law and your new ‘friend’ may be the FBI” (2010)
• “Pentagon Is Expected to Close Intelligence Unit” (2008)
• “The government is reading your mail” (2007)
• “Spying on Big Brother [:] Now you can find out if you’re being surveilled by the FBI or the NYPD” (2006)
• “Military Documents Hold Tips on Antiwar Activities” (2006)
• “US plans to ‘fight the net’ revealed” (2006)
• “FBI Spied on Americans” (2001)
• “Extent of FBI’s Web surveillance disclosed” (2001)

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Q. What kind of surveillance are we talking about?
A. At least millions of people, billions of contacts, and even more data. Quite possibly everything that has been transmitted via electronic network, perhaps since 2007, as Senators Feinstein and Chambliss said (“Transcript: Dianne Feinstein, Saxby Chambliss explain, defend NSA phone records program”, Washington Post, 6/6/13), possibly since 2001 (“NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls”, USA Today, 5/11/06).

• “IRS Thinks It Doesn’t Need A Warrant To Read Your Email” (2013)
• “U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens” (2012)
• Social media: “Homeland Security Manual Lists Government Key Words For Monitoring Social Media, News” (2012), “DHS Monitoring Of Social Media Under Scrutiny By Lawmakers” (2012), “Federal Contractor Monitored Social Network Sites” (2012), and “Homeland Security moves forward with ‘pre-crime’ detection” (2011)
• “FBI spies on suspects online by tapping computers with spyware” (2011)
• “Top Secret America: A hidden world, growing beyond control” (2010)
• “U.S. May Have Taped Visits to Detainees” (2008)
• “FBI Data Transfers Via Telecoms Questioned” (2008)
• “F.B.I. Gained Unauthorized Access to E-Mail” (2008)
• “F.B.I. Data Mining Reached Beyond Initial Targets” (2007)
• “Point, Click … Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates” (2007)

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Q. Who’s involved in this electronic surveillance?
A. Government agencies and officials, telecom companies, and technology companies.

• “Revealed: NSA targeting domestic computer systems in secret test” (2012)
• “The FBI’s Secret Surveillance Letters to Tech Companies” (2012)
• “These Are The Prices AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Charge for Cellphone Wiretaps” (2012)
• “National Security Agency Pressed to Reveal Details on Google Deal” (2012)
• “Director of National Intelligence Cut Jobs and Secrets in 2011” (2012)
• “Which Telecoms Store Your Data the Longest? Secret Memo Tells All” (2011)
• “NSA spooks win fight to keep secret possible ties to Google” (2011)
• “Like ABC, Fox Had FBI Mole In Its Midst” (2011)
• “FBI spied on little kids for days” (2011)
• “EFF obtains docs that reveal when authorities can get your data from social media companies” (2011)
• “The National Security Agency Trains its Superspies at Shady Diploma Mills” (2010)
• “Yahoo, Verizon: Our Spy Capabilities Would ‘Shock’, ‘Confuse’ Consumers” (2009)
• “Bush Feared Successor Might Revoke Telco Spy Immunity” (2009)
• “National Security Agency spends $2 million on Google” (2008)
• “Just Between Us: Telecoms and the Bush administration talked about how to keep their surveillance program under wraps” (2008)
• “New spy chief to face ethics thicket” (2007)
• “NSA program not up and running despite six years, millions spent” (2006)
• “Northwest shared passenger information with NASA” (2004) (Note: The story mentions that JetBlue had shared data on over a million passengers with a DOD contractor; then the airline apologized.)
• “Feds Don’t Track Airline Watchlist Mishaps” (2003)

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Q. What do we know about surveillance and the law?
A. The public has learned some things about surveillance as a result of FOIA; the stories below represent a sampling of coverage in the last decade.

• “C.I.A. Report Finds Concerns With Ties to New York Police” (2013)
• “Secret court won’t object to release of opinion on illegal surveillance” (2013)
• “Justice Department Complies With FOIA By Releasing Completely Redacted Document” (2013)
• “Little-known surveillance tool raises concerns by judges, privacy activists” (2013)
• “Few Companies Fight Patriot Act Gag Orders, FBI Admits” (2012)
• “Redacted Chapter of FBI Field Guide Stays Sealed” (2012)
• “Even Those Cleared of Crimes Can Stay on F.B.I.’s Terrorist Watch List” (2011)
• “Warrantless Surveillance Memos Stay Classified” (2011)
• “Domestic Surveillance Court Approved All 1,506 Warrant Applications in 2010” (2011)
• “Federal judge rules Muslims can’t see FBI files” (2011)
• “Documents Obtained by EFF Reveal FBI Patriot Act Abuses” (2011)
• “Loosening of F.B.I. Rules Stirs Privacy Concerns” (2009)
• “Memo Justified Warrantless Surveillance” (2008)
• Pentagon faulted for ‘security letters’ (2007)
• “Critics take aim at secret court” (2004)

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Q. What kind of oversight is there?
A. In theory, Congress, courts, agency inspectors general, and agency attorneys provide political, legal, and bureaucratic checks on surveillance.

• “Obama Administration Stonewalls Declassification of Secret Court Rulings” (2012) (see also “Secret Court Rulings Kept Out of Public View After U.S. Review” (2012))
• “Congress Left in Dark on DOJ Wiretaps” (2012)
• “Germany Sought Info About FBI Spy Tool in 2007” (2011)
• “Obama Refuses to Release Bush’s Legal Excuse for Illegal Surveillance” (2011)
• “Classified Pentagon report upholds Thomas Drake’s complaints about NSA” (2011)
• “FBI misled Justice about spying on peace group” (2010)
• “Interim IG Report on Surveillance Program Released” (2009)

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Q. What does surveillance cover? What do stories about surveillance reveal?
A. Surveillance can cover people based on a range of activities, some illegal or worrisome; some legal and constitutionally-protected. And just because the government can conduct wide-ranging electronic surveillance doesn’t mean an end to in-person surveillance. Stories of surveillance are stories of us, the watchers and the watched.

• “2011 Government Report Confirmation: DHS, Banks Gathered Key Intel on OWS From Daily Kos, Other Sites” (2013)
• “FBI Occupy Wall Street Memos Skip Infiltration of Occupy Cleveland” (2013)
• “FBI files reveal new details about informant who armed Black Panthers” (2012)
• “Reagan’s Personal Spying Machine” (2012)
• “Student ‘Subversives’ And The FBI’s ‘Dirty Tricks’” (2012)
• “Mark Hatfield was named as bribe target in secret 1985 indictment of Greek arms dealer, newly released FBI documents show” (2012)
• “FBI Domestic Terrorism Training Guides on Anarchists, Environmentalists” (2012)
• “Homeland Security Infiltrates Senior Citizen Protest” (2012)
• “FBI documents reveal profiling of N. California Muslims” (2012) (On a related note, AP reporters led by Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on government surveillance of Muslims in New York City.) [Disclaimer: The Associated Press is a member of SGI.]
• “Internal Documents Show the Department of Homeland Security Tried Pretty Hard Not to Monitor Occupy Wall Street” (2012)
• “How a Radical Leftist Became the FBI’s BFF” (2011)
• “F.B.I. Focusing on Security Over Ordinary Crime” (2011)
• “Civil Rights Activist Benjamin Hooks’ FBI File Details Racist Threats Against Him” (2011)
• “Late Rep. Charlie Wilson faced death threats, scrutiny, says FBI file” (2010)
• “FBI Files: Helms Faced Threats” (2010)
• “Lawmakers facing more threats” (2010)
• “Military Monitored Planned Parenthood, Supremacists” (2010)
• “Documents show DHS improperly spied on Nation of Islam in 2007” (2009)
• “FBI Agent Thinks the Green Party Is a Terrorist Group With Nukes” (2009)
• “Army Looking Into Monitoring of Protest Groups “ (2009)
• “FBI tracked King’s every move” (2008)
• “FBI watched [Eugene] McCarthy anti-Hoover effort” (2007)
• “11 News exclusive: Inside the FBI’s secret files on Coretta Scott King” (2007)
• “FBI probed talk of killing chief justice” (2007)
• “CIA to Air Decades of Its Dirty Laundry” (2007)
• “FBI files link Ga. governor to lynchings in 1940s” (2007)
• “FBI Kept Eye on Peace Activists” (2007)
• “FBI Keeps Watch on Activists; Antiwar, other groups are monitored to curb violence, not because of ideology, agency says” (2006)
• “New Documents Show FBI Targeting Peaceful Protesters in Colorado as Potential Terrorists” (2005)

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Q. Has surveillance affected the press?
A. Yes.

• “F.B.I. destroyed file on Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, ‘Times’ publisher behind the Pentagon Papers” (2013)
• “So Then the FBI Sent Out an Agent to Check Up on My FOIA Request” (2012)
• “FBI searched long, hard for Jack Anderson sources” (2008)
• “Spies Prep Reporters on Keeping Secrets” (2007)
• “Leak Probes Stymied, FBI Memos Show” (2007)