IC ON THE RECORD

Release of the 20^th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance

April 2, 2021

Today, the DNI, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is releasing in redacted form the 20^th Semiannual Assessment of Compliance with Procedures and Guidelines Issued Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Submitted by the then Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (“Joint Assessment”). This Joint Assessment covers the timeframe of December 2017 – May 2018. The DNI is releasing this semiannual assessment proactively, in keeping with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the Intelligence Community .

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which was in effect during the reporting period for this 20^th Joint Assessment, required the Attorney General and the DNI to assess compliance with Section 702 procedures over each six-month period and to submit such assessments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and relevant congressional committees. A joint team of experts (the Joint Oversight Team) from DOJ and ODNI conduct these assessments.

The Joint Assessments describe the extensive measures the Government undertakes to ensure compliance with FISC-approved targeting and minimization procedures for Section 702; to accurately identify, record and correct errors; to take responsive actions to remove any erroneously obtained data; and to minimize the chances that mistakes will recur. As was the case in past Joint Assessments, the Joint Oversight Team found in the 20^th Joint Assessment that the agencies continued to implement the procedures in a manner that reflected a focused and concerted effort by IC personnel to comply with the requirements of Section 702.

In this semiannual assessment, DOJ and ODNI note that two types of compliance incidents drove the increase in the overall compliance incident rate to 4.39%. Certain of the compliance incidents described in this assessment, including those regarding the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) queries discussed below, have been described in other materials previously released to the public, most notably, the FISC’s October 2018 opinion addressing the Government’s annual certification of its Section 702 program.

As described in this and prior semiannual assessments, this overall compliance incident rate remains an imperfect proxy insofar as the rate compares the total number of compliance incidents (regardless of their cause) to the average number of tasked facilities (which may be unrelated to the number of certain types of compliance incidents, such as the number of times the acquired data was disseminated or queried erroneously). To better promote oversight and inform the public’s understanding of compliance trends and their potential to affect privacy and civil liberties, this assessment therefore also includes narrative descriptions of compliance incidents and provides an additional metric that is specific to the compliance incident rate for National Security Agency (NSA) targeting decisions.

In the first category of incidents, one office in the NSA misunderstood how one of NSA’s tasking tools worked and did not appropriately review multiple accounts prior to tasking, which resulted in numerous accounts being incorrectly tasked. The erroneously tasked accounts were detasked and the information collected from these taskings was purged. After becoming aware of the incidents, NSA issued additional training to its personnel about the tasking requirements on the use of its tasking tools.

The second category of incidents involved misapplication by FBI personnel of the query standard in the FBI querying procedures. Two events, each involving large numbers of queries conducted using FBI’s “batch query” tool (which allows FBI personnel to run numerous identifiers simultaneously), resulted in approximately 98% of the FBI’s compliance incidents. These two batch query incidents involved numerous queries conducted by the tool but pertained to a small subset of users.

Informed by these and other FBI query incidents, the FISC assessed the FBI’s use of query terms in opinions the court issued on October 18, 2018 , September 4, 2019 , and December 6, 2019 . In the 2018 opinion, the FISC found that the FBI’s querying procedures were not consistent with Section 702 or the Fourth Amendment in part because they did not require adequate documentation of justifications for U.S. person queries. In response to the Court’s opinions, the FBI made system modifications necessary to meet query recordkeeping and documentation requirements and provided training on these new modifications. The previously released December 2019 FISC opinion discusses these changes. The FBI incidents discussed in this 20^th Joint Assessment were reported to the FISC in a reporting period (December 2017 – May 2018) that preceded the 2018 and 2019 court opinions and the FBI’s implementation of these remedial actions.

ODNI has previously released a number of prior joint assessments, which may be found on IC on the Record and Intel.gov.

Below is today’s release, in redacted form:

20^th Joint Assessment (dated November 2020): reporting period December 1, 2017-May 31, 2018

ODNI, DOJ, and DHS Release Unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violent Extremism

March 17, 2021

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released an unclassified summary of the joint comprehensive threat assessment on domestic violent extremism. The unclassified summary is attached and will be available on DNI.gov later today.

The ODNI assessment was drafted by the National Counterterrorism Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and DHS, and includes contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. All agencies involved are mindful of the duty to respect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties and to act within the authorities granted to them as they seek to put together as complete an intelligence and analytic picture as is possible.

Read the report:

Unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violent Extremism

View original press statement on DNI.gov

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ODNI Releases Intelligence Community Assessment of Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Elections

March 16, 2021

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today released the declassified Intelligence Community (IC) assessment of foreign threats to the 2020 U.S. federal elections. The document is a declassified version of a classified report that the IC provided to the President, senior Executive Branch officials, and Congressional leadership and intelligence oversight committees on January 7, 2021.

“Foreign malign influence is an enduring challenge facing our country,” said Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. “These efforts by U.S. adversaries seek to exacerbate divisions and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions. Addressing this ongoing challenge requires a whole-of-government approach grounded in an accurate understanding of the problem, which the Intelligence Community, through assessments such as this one, endeavors to provide.”

Coordinated across the IC, the assessment addresses the intentions and efforts of key foreign actors to influence or interfere with the 2020 U.S. elections and undermine public confidence in the U.S. election process. The assessment builds on the analysis the IC provided to the public and policymakers throughout the 2020 election cycle.

Additionally, pursuant to Executive Order 13848(1)(b), the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security today issued an unclassified summary that evaluates the impact of foreign influence or interference efforts on the security and integrity of U.S. election infrastructure.

Read the report:

Intelligence Community Assessment: Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Federal Elections

View the original press statement via DNI.gov

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Assessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi

Declassified by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines

February 25, 2021

Consistent with Sections 1277 and 5714 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (P.L. 116-92) and with the commitment made during her January 20, 2021, nomination hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of National Security Avril Haines today declassified an Intelligence Community assessment regarding the Saudi Government’s role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Download the report

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ODNI Releases ODNI-Attorney General Procedures for Conducting Intelligence Activities

January 14, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released new procedures approved by the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General governing the conduct of ODNI intelligence activities.

As required by Executive Order 12333, these procedures, commonly referred to as the “Attorney General (AG) Guidelines,” provide the core protections for ODNI’s collection and handling of information concerning U.S. persons in the conduct of lawful intelligence activities. ODNI’s AG Guidelines also prescribe the limited circumstances in which ODNI personnel may participate in a U.S. organization without disclosing their ODNI affiliation.

Until the effective date of the new ODNI AG Guidelines on March 23, ODNI will continue to conduct intelligence activities within established National Counterterrorism Center or CIA AG Guidelines.

“As intelligence professionals, our first duty is to the American people,” said Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. “We must continue to ensure that we always conduct our intelligence activities lawfully, appropriately integrate intelligence in support of national security, and protect the privacy and civil liberties of every American. ODNI’s AG Guidelines provide the framework for executing that mission.”

The new ODNI AG Guidelines are part of a multi-year effort to update comparable sets of procedures across the Intelligence Community (IC). They ensure the IC takes a consistent approach to protecting privacy and civil liberties while integrating intelligence information across many different intelligence elements and disciplines.

Consistent with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the IC, the ODNI’s AG Guidelines are unclassified and proactively released in their entirety here. In addition, a narrative document describing key provisions of the Guidelines, including the authorities and restrictions that govern ODNI’s collection, evaluation, retention and dissemination of information, as well as the oversight mechanisms that ODNI will use to ensure compliance with these protections, is available here.

ODNI AG Guidelines

ODNI AG Guidelines Procedure Summary

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Release of the 19^th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance

October 8, 2020

Today, the DNI, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is releasing in redacted form the 19^th Semiannual Assessment of Compliance with Procedures and Guidelines Issued Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Submitted by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (“Joint Assessment”). The DNI is releasing this semiannual assessment proactively, in keeping with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the Intelligence Community.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 requires the Attorney General and the DNI to assess compliance with Section 702 procedures over each six month period and to submit such assessments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (“FISC”) and relevant congressional committees. A joint team of experts (the Joint Oversight Team) from DOJ and ODNI conduct these assessments.

The Joint Assessments describe the extensive measures the Government undertakes to ensure compliance with FISC-approved targeting and minimization procedures; to accurately identify, record and correct errors; to take responsive actions to remove any erroneously obtained data; and to minimize the chances that mistakes will recur. The Joint Assessments have found that the agencies continue to implement the procedures in a manner that reflects a focused and concerted effort by IC personnel to comply with the requirements of Section 702.

One new item contained in this 19^th Joint Assessment is an additional metric to assess compliance. As explained in previous assessments, the Joint Oversight Team periodically evaluates how and what data it collects to provide for more meaningful statistics. The Joint Assessment has traditionally tracked the overall compliance incident rate; however, this statistic remains imperfect, as the assessment explains. Thus, the Joint Oversight Team determined that providing a new, additional comparison rate – NSA’s targeting compliance incident rate – would enhance overseers’ and the public’s understanding of Section 702 compliance. For consistency in evaluating long-term trends, this Joint Assessment also continues to provide the overall compliance incident rate. Additional details about the new measurement are provided in the Joint Assessment.

ODNI has previously released a number of prior joint assessments, which may be found on IC on the Record and Intel.gov .

Below is today’s release, in redacted form:

19^th Joint Assessment (dated December 2019): reporting period June 1, 2017-November 30, 2017

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Release of FISA Opinion Regarding Electronic Surveillance Technique

September 23, 2020

Today the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Department of Justice, releases a March 5, 2020, opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

Title I of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) requires that prior to issuing an order authorizing electronic surveillance, the FISC must determine, among other things, that there is probable cause to believe (A) that the target of the collection is a foreign power or agent of a foreign power, and (B) that “each of the facilities or places at which the electronic surveillance is to be directed is being used, or is about to be used, by a foreign power or agent of a foreign power.” 50 U.S.C. 1805(a)(2).

In the course of analyzing a novel, classified surveillance technique, the FISC’s March 2020 opinion examined each portion of the second half of these required findings, interpreting FISA with respect to what constitutes a “facility” at which surveillance may be directed, as well as whether the proposed surveillance was in fact “directed” at an appropriate facility. The FISC further addressed whether FISA requires the FISC to make a probable cause finding regarding the targeted facilities in their totality, or whether the FISC instead should make probable cause findings for “each” facility individually. The FISC appointed both legal and technical amici curiae to assist in its analysis of the complex surveillance technique.

The FISC ultimately determined that the proposed surveillance technique was consistent with the statutory terms and that there was probable cause to assess that the targets used each of the specified facilities. The FISC further ordered the Government to report on whether the technique resulted in the acquisition of non-target communications.

While redactions have been made to protect the classified and sensitive surveillance method discussed in this opinion, ODNI is making this opinion publicly available to the greatest extent practicable, as required by 50 U.S.C. § 1872.

FISC’s March 2020 Opinion (released pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1872)

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Release of Court Opinion Related to the Temporary Retention, Use, and Disclosure of Unlawful FISA Collection

September 11, 2020

Today, the ODNI, in consultation with the Department of Justice, releases a June 25, 2020, opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) evaluating and approving limited circumstances under which the Government may temporarily retain, use, or disclose information that was unlawfully acquired pursuant to a FISC order.

On December 9, 2019, the Government advised the FISC that it was sequestering collection associated with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications targeting Carter W. Page (Page) based upon its determination that at least the third and fourth FISA applications targeting Page lacked sufficient predication to establish probable cause that Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power. This action was taken following a Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (OIG) review that identified material errors and omissions with respect to applications concerning Mr. Page.

While the Government strictly limited access to the Page FISA collection, the Government sought to temporarily retain this collection for the sole purposes of reviewing and remediating the issues revealed by the OIG report, as well as for any related investigations or litigation regarding the Government’s conduct. On January 7, 2020, the FISC ordered the Government to explain why any retention, use, or disclosure of information collected under the Page FISA applications was necessary and lawful.

Specifically, 50 U.S.C. § 1809(a)(2) and 1827(a)(2) criminalizes the intentional use and disclosure of information acquired by unauthorized electronic surveillance or physical search that was conducted under the color of a FISA authorization. In prior opinions, however, the FISC recognized a limited exception to the language of 50 U.S.C. § 1809(a)(2), for “actions that are necessary to mitigate or prevent the very harms at which [this section] is addressed,” such as instances where use or disclosure may be “necessary to avoid similar instances of overcollections.” ODNI previously reviewed and released to the public these earlier FISC decisions, which are available here and here .

In its June 25, 2020, opinion, the FISC set parameters for the temporary retention, use, and disclosure of information acquired pursuant to the Page FISA applications with respect to: (1) ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation with third-parties, (2) ongoing and potential civil litigation initiated by Mr. Page, (3) a review of FBI personnel’s conduct in the Page investigation, (4) Department of Justice Office of Inspector General monitoring of implementation of recommendations from its report, and (5) review of the conduct of government personnel in the Page investigation and the broader “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. The Government did not seek nor did the FISC authorize the retention, use, or disclosure of the relevant FISA information for intelligence purposes.

The FISC’s June 25, 2020 opinion is available at the link below and also in full-text searchable format on Intelligence.gov.

June 2020 FISC Opinion (released pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1872)

- #declassified
- #FISA
- #FISC
- #Section 702
- #DOJ
- #FBI
- #Carter Page
7 months ago
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Release of Documents Related to the 2019 FISA Section 702 Certifications

September 4, 2020

Today the ODNI, in consultation with the Department of Justice, releases documents related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s (FISC) approval of the 2019 Certifications under Section 702 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

On December 6, 2019, the FISC issued a classified Memorandum Opinion and Order approving the 2019 Certifications and the associated targeting, minimization, and querying procedures (linked below). In the Memorandum Opinion, the Court examined the proposed procedures and found that they satisfy the requirements of FISA and the Fourth Amendment.

Additionally, the Court examined the implementation of and compliance with prior Section 702 procedures, including the FBI’s progress in implementing the recordkeeping and documentation requirements contained within FBI’s querying procedures. The Court concluded that the procedures, as implemented, also comport with statutory and Fourth Amendment requirements.

As it pertained to FBI’s querying procedures, the Court revisited its analysis of the 2018 Section 702 certifications in its September 2019 Opinion , finding that the FBI continued to follow its previously described implementation schedule to complete training and systems modifications necessary to meet query recordkeeping and documentation requirements.

In addition to releasing the FISC opinion, ODNI is releasing the targeting, minimization, and querying procedures related to the 2019 Certifications. Links to these documents are provided below.

The documents are also posted in full-text searchable format on Intel.gov.

FISC’s December 2019 Opinion

2019 Targeting Procedures (released pursuant to the IC’s Principles of Transparency):

2019 Minimization and Querying Procedures (released pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1881a(e)).

Background on Section 702:

Section 702 was enacted as part of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) and most recently reauthorized by the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017. Section 702 permits the Attorney General and the DNI to jointly authorize, through certifications, the targeting of (i) non-U.S. persons (ii) who are reasonably believed to be located outside the United States (iii) to acquire foreign intelligence information. These certifications are accompanied by targeting procedures, minimization procedures, and querying procedures that are each designed to ensure that the Government’s collection is appropriately targeted against non-United States persons located overseas who may possess or are likely to communicate foreign intelligence information and that any such collection is appropriately handled in a manner that protects privacy and civil liberties.

Under Section 702, the FISC reviews the certifications and accompanying documents to ensure that they meet all the requirements of Section 702 and are consistent with the Fourth Amendment. The Court’s review is not limited to the procedures as written, but also includes an examination of how the procedures have been and will be implemented. Accordingly, as part of its review, the FISC considers the compliance incidents reported to it by the Government through notices and reports.

For additional background information, please refer to the 2020 Statistical Transparency Report Regarding Use of National Security Authorities for CY2019 posted on Intel.gov and IC on the Record.

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Intelligence Community Releases Artificial Intelligence Principles and Framework

Narrowing the gap between data collection and decision making is a top priority for the Intelligence Community, but the pace at which data is generated is increasing exponentially—and the IC workforce available to analyze the data is not. Artificial intelligence provides powerful tools to execute this mission, but also brings new challenges.That makes it even more important that the IC to implement AI in a manner that is both ethical and consistent with our values.

Which is to say that AI is about much more than technology. The IC must ensure that technological changes do not change our commitment to protecting privacy and civil liberties in the course of our work.That’s why our data scientists, privacy and civil liberties officers and other key stakeholders worked together to develop the Principles of AI Ethics for the Intelligence Community as well as a framework to ensure that these principles are incorporated into our design and use of this technology.

This framework is a living document, and we’re eager for your feedback on how we can continue to expand and refine it to keep pace with this rapidly evolving technology.

View the AI Principles of Ethics for the IC
View the AI Ethics Framework for the IC
Read the press release at DNI.gov

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IC ON THE RECORD

Release of the 20th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance

ODNI, DOJ, and DHS Release Unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violent Extremism

ODNI Releases Intelligence Community Assessment of Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Elections

Assessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi

ODNI Releases ODNI-Attorney General Procedures for Conducting Intelligence Activities

Release of the 19th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance

Release of FISA Opinion Regarding Electronic Surveillance Technique

Release of Court Opinion Related to the Temporary Retention, Use, and Disclosure of Unlawful FISA Collection

Release of Documents Related to the 2019 FISA Section 702 Certifications

Intelligence Community Releases Artificial Intelligence Principles and Framework

IC ON THE RECORD:

Release of the 20^th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance

Release of the 19^th Joint Assessment of Section 702 Compliance