[Transcription of] hearing focused on the government's collection of foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers under court supervision pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Shortly after the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board ("PCLOB" or "Board") began operation as a new independent agency, Board Members identified a series of programs and issues to prioritize for review. As announced at the Board's public meeting in March 2013, one of these issues was the implementation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008.

Shortly after the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board ("PCLOB" or "Board") began operation as a new independent agency, Board Members identified a series of programs and issues to prioritize for review. As announced at the Board's public meeting in March 2013, one of these issues was the implementation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008.

In 2008, Congress enacted the FISA Amendments Act, which made changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). Those changes included a new provision, Section 702, permitting the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to jointly authorize surveillance conducted within the U.S. but targeting only non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) began reviewing implementation of the FISA Amendments Act early in 2013, shortly after the Board began operations as an independent agency. This report contains PCLOB's detailed analysis of the Section 702 program, with a focus on increasing transparency to the public regarding the surveillance program. It addresses the Section 702 program's development and operation, statutory basis, constitutional implications, and whether it strikes the right balance between national security and privacy and civil liberties, and will make recommendations for policy reforms. This is a print on demand report.

CONTENTS: 1. UNITED STATES FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT - RULES OF PROCEDURE Effective November 1, 2010 2. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): An Overview 3. Federal Bureau of Investigation Privacy & Civil Liberties Officer, Office of the General Counsel Protections for United States Person Information Acquired Pursuant to Title I and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 4. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978 [Public Law 95–511; 92 Stat. 1783; approved October 25, 1978] [As Amended Through P.L. 115–118, Enacted January 19, 2018 5. FISA Amendments Act of 2008 6. Review of Procedures and Practices of CIA to Disseminate United States Person Information Acquired Pursuant to Titles I and III and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - August 2017 7. Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on activities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts for 2018 8. Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on activities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts for 2017 9. Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on activities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts for 2016 10. Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on activities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts for 2015 11. The FISA Amendments Act: Q&A (2017) 12. Report on the Surveillance Program Operated Pursuant toSection 702of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - July 2, 2014

In February of 2016, the Judiciary Committee held a classified hearing that began consideration of the reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act, which was first signed into law in 2008 and reauthorized in 2012. Much has happened since the law was last reauthorized, however, including the unauthorized disclosures of classified information by Edward Snowden in 2013 that spawned significant public debate on U.S. Government surveillance. There has been jurisprudence upholding the statute's constitutionality. Like congressional oversight, judicial oversight of this program is an integral safeguard. Congress enacted FISA in 1978 to establish statutory guidelines authorizing the use of electronic surveillance in the United States for foreign intelligence purposes. Following enactment, global communications infrastructure shifted from satellite to fiberoptic wire, altering the manner in which domestic and foreign communications are transmitted. This technological shift had the adverse and unintended effect of requiring the government to obtain an individualized FISA court order to monitor foreign communications by non-U.S. persons. In 2008, the FISA Amendments Act established procedures for the collection of foreign intelligence on targets located outside U.S. borders. At its core, Section 702 of the act permits the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to jointly authorize the targeting of non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States. The intelligence community has deemed Section 702 its most important tool in battling terrorism. However, it has also been criticized by some as an overly broad program that collects communications of U.S. citizens without sufficient legal process.