BULK COLLECTION OF TELEPHONY METADATA\ UNDER SECTION 215 OF THE USA PATRIOT ACT

This white paper explains the Government’s legal basis for an intelligence collection program under which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains court orders directing certain telecommunications service providers to produce telephony metadata in bulk. The bulk metadata is stored, queried and analyzed by the National Security Agency (NSA) for counterterrorism purposes. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (“the FISC” or “the Court”) authorizes this program under the “business records” provision of the Foreign. Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C. �� 1861, enacted as section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Section 215). The Court first authorized the program in 2006, and it has since been renewed thirty-four times under orders issued by fourteen different FISC judges. This paper explains why the telephony metadata collection program, subject to the restrictions imposed by the Court, is consistent with the Constitution and the standards set forth by Congress in Section 215. Because aspects of this program remain classified, there are limits to what can be said publicly about the facts underlying its legal authorization. This paper is an effort to provide as much information as possible to the public concerning the legal authority for this program, consistent with the need to protect national security, including intelligence sources and methods. While this paper summarizes the legal basis for the program, it is not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of the program or the legal arguments or authorities in support of it.

Spotlight

City of Pocatello

Founded in 1889, Pocatello is known as the “Gateway to the Northwest.” As pioneers, gold miners and settlers traveled the Oregon Trail, they passed through the Portneuf Gap south of town. Stage and freight lines and the railroad soon followed, turning our community into a trade center and transportation junction.

OTHER WHITEPAPERS
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Reforming US Trade Policy for Shared Prosperity and the Planet

whitePaper | November 15, 2019

Trade was not such a controversial topic not so long ago. For most of the post-war era trade worked well for the US and for many other countries. A bipartisan consensus supported continuing trade liberalization as long as it was accompanied by full employment. However trade always had winners and losers as economies adjust to different costs of production among trading partners and over the last few decades the number of US workers losing from trade mounted and the losses spread across hard hit communities. For these and other reasons, trade has become so controversial that it is now a key pivot point in politics and elections in the US.

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Cybersecurity Modernization - Transform Government While Controlling Business Risk

whitePaper | December 17, 2019

Moving systems to the cloud, introducing mobile devices into the workforce, investing in smart city projects and undergoing other modernization efforts can introduce risk if agencies can't sufficiently protect their data. According to a recent survey, 92 percent of government respondents will use sensitive data in an advanced technology within the year, yet 96 percent consider themselves "vulnerable."

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Government Special Report

whitePaper | December 27, 2021

Government Financial & Operational Management Special Report Identifying the challenges that face your governmental entity is oftentimes the first step in helping position your government for future success. Are you able to balance the needs of your community while efficiently managing and reporting on the services you’re charged with providing?

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WHITE HOUSE ACTION PLAN ON GLOBAL WATER SECURITY

whitePaper | June 1, 2022

The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes the critical role of sustainable water systems and the transformational power that water access has in the life of each person on earth. From its most basic role as the source of life to its advanced role in powering global economies, water matters. Still, its ubiquity in everyday life risks leading us to take it for granted — while global trends in population growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, deforestation, and climate change pose growing challenges to water security around the world. Here at home, water crises are becoming more frequent and intense. Historic droughts threaten our supply of water, and failing infrastructure and chronic underinvestment deprive our most vulnerable communities of safe drinking water. Lack of sanitation threatens public health, individual safety and dignity, equity, and the protection of freshwater resources; extreme weather events intensify these risks where improved sanitation is unavailable. As the source of both life and livelihoods, water security is central to human and national security.

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How Do Sovereign Wealth Funds Invest? With Strategic Diversification

whitePaper | April 30, 2022

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) remain a prominent and diverse group of global asset owners. They represent unencumbered fiscal resources of the host governments, invested under a range of different mandates. In this study, we considered 34 of the largest SWFs, located in 26 different jurisdictions, which as of year-end 2020, have total assets of almost $8.5 trillion, representing 5% of total global markets.2 Between 2018 and 2020, total SWF assets under management (AUM) grew by an annualized 11.3%, as compared to 5.5% over the previous time period (Figure 1). We find that the acceleration in AUM growth is largely a function of market gains due to the post-2018 drawdown in equities. However, we estimate that organic inflows into global SWF holdings are roughly in line with the mid-single digits during the 2014–2018 time period.

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GOVERNMENT WHITE PAPER ON THE REPORT OF THE TRUTH RECONCILIATION AND REPARATIONS COMMISSION

whitePaper | May 25, 2022

On 22 July 1994, then 29-year-old army lieutenant Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh came to power through a military coup d’état – having ousted the democratically elected President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara. For 22 years, Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist. During his regime, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, enforced disappearances, and numerous grievous human rights violations became part and parcel of his military Junta.

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Spotlight

City of Pocatello

Founded in 1889, Pocatello is known as the “Gateway to the Northwest.” As pioneers, gold miners and settlers traveled the Oregon Trail, they passed through the Portneuf Gap south of town. Stage and freight lines and the railroad soon followed, turning our community into a trade center and transportation junction.

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