E.O. 12333 Raw SIGINT Availability ProceduresJanuary 12, 2017 On January 3, 2017, the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, issued the “Procedures for the Availability or Dissemination of Raw Signals...
View Separately

E.O. 12333 Raw SIGINT Availability Procedures

January 12, 2017

On January 3, 2017, the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, issued the “Procedures for the Availability or Dissemination of Raw Signals Intelligence Information by the National Security Agency under Section 2.3 of Executive Order 12333” (the “Raw SIGINT Availability Procedures”).  The procedures were approved by the Attorney General on January 3, 2017.  

Section 2.3 of E.O. 12333 provides that elements of the Intelligence Community (IC) may disseminate information to a recipient IC element to allow that element to determine whether information “is relevant to its responsibilities and can be retained by it, except that information derived from signals intelligence may only be disseminated or made available to Intelligence Community elements in accordance with procedures established by the Director [of National Intelligence] in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and approved by the Attorney General.” The Raw SIGINT Availability Procedures implement this provision.  

The procedures permit IC elements to have access, under appropriate conditions, to the unevaluated or unminimized (i.e., “raw”) signals intelligence (SIGINT) information that the NSA collects pursuant to E.O. 12333, thus enabling elements to bring their own analytic expertise to reviewing that information and to use that information in support of their own missions.  The procedures therefore provide an important mechanism for enhancing information sharing, integration, and collaboration in the IC.  

The procedures include significant protections for the civil liberties and privacy of U.S. persons. As detailed in the fact sheet, the procedures:

  • Only allow IC elements to access raw SIGINT in circumstances where the information will further a foreign intelligence or counterintelligence mission in a significant way.  
  • Do not permit raw SIGINT to be accessed for law enforcement purposes.  
  • Do not apply to information collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, including Section 702.
  • Establish rules that a recipient IC element must follow when accessing, processing, or retaining raw SIGINT, or disseminating information derived from SIGINT. These rules closely follow those used by the NSA.  
  • Set up extensive training, auditing, oversight, and compliance requirements that are comparable to the NSA’s for similar activities.  
  • Require periodic reauthorization of access and high-level reviews of activities conducted under the procedures.  

The ODNI has publicly released the procedures with limited redactions to protect classified sources and methods.  A copy of the redacted procedures is available below.

Read the redacted procedures here.

10 Notes/ Hide

  1. jefferyq101 reblogged this from icontherecord and added:
    Hut-o I know what that feels like
  2. odnigov reblogged this from icontherecord
  3. icontherecord posted this