The ACLU and others have long suspected that the National Security Agency is relying on its authority to target foreigners abroad as a useful cover for its sweeping surveillance of Americans' communications. Those suspicions were proven true when, on June 5, 2013, The Guardian released the first in a series of documents detailing the NSA's spying activities. Listed below are all of the documents released since that day, both by the media (denoted in blue) and the government (denoted in red). Together, they have triggered a remarkable and long-overdue public debate about the legality and propriety of the government's surveillance practices.

Click here to learn more about what the ACLU is doing to rein in the surveillance state, and here for a comprehensive list of congressional bills introduced since June 2013 to reform the government's spying programs.

Date Released Date of Document Title of Document Description Releasing Entity (Press or Govt.) No. of Pages
01/17/2014 08/18/2006 FISC Order BR 06-08 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 11/15/2006 FISC Order BR 06-12 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 10
01/17/2014 02/07/2007 FISC Order BR 07-04 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 05/03/2007 FISC Order BR 07-10 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 05/31/2007 FISC Amended Order BR 07-10 Amendment of Order BR 07-10 from the FISC For Purposes of Querying the Metadata Archive. Government 4
01/17/2014 07/25/2007 FISC Order BR 07-14 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 10/18/2007 FISC Order BR 07-16 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 January, 2008 FISC Order BR 08-01 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 12
01/17/2014 04/03/2008 FISC Order BR 08-04 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 12
01/17/2014 06/26/2008 FISC Order BR 08-07 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 13
01/17/2014 08/19/2008 FISC Order BR 08-08 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 13
01/17/2014 12/12/2008 FISC Order BR 08-13 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 13
01/17/2014 03/05/2009 FISC Order BR 09-01 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 11
01/17/2014 05/29/2009 FISC Order BR 09-06 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 15
01/17/2014 02/25/2010 FISC Order BR 10-10 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 19
01/17/2014 05/14/2010 FISC Order BR 10-17 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 19
01/17/2014 08/4/2010 FISC Order BR 10-49 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 19
01/17/2014 10/29/2010 FISC Order BR 10-70 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 15
01/17/2014 01/20/2010 FISC Order BR 11-07 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 15
01/17/2014 02/10/2011 FISC Amended Order BR 11-07 Amendment to Primary Order BR 11-07 Ordering that footnote 5 of the Court’s Primary Order is amended. Government 2
01/17/2014 04/13/2011 FISC Order BR 11-57 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 15
01/17/2014 04/13/2011 FISC Supplemental Order BR 11-57 Supplemental Order ordering NSA reports to include a discussion of the NSA’s consideration and implementation of methods of purging credit card information described in BR 10-49 and BR 10-70. Government 1
01/17/2014 06/22/2011 FISC Order BR 11-107 Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government 15
01/17/2014 06/22/2011 FISC Supplemental Order BR 11-107 Supplemental Order ordering NSA reports to include a discussion of NSA’s consideration and implementation of methods of purging credit card information described in BR 10-49, BR 10-70, various Thirty Day Reports, in BR 11-57, and as discussed at Tab B of the application in the docket. Government 1
12/10/2013 09/20/2006 GMS Classification Guide Internal NSA document outlining the agency’s ability to intercept, process and discern location data from mobile phone calls. Press 2
12/10/2013 10/01/2012 Cotraveler Overview Study overviewing key elements of the co-traveler analytics both under development and operational at NSA. Press 24
12/10/2013   Ghost Machine Excerpts from slides describing the NSA's Special Source Operations cloud analytics platform, code-named GHOSTMACHINE. Press 4
12/10/2013   Target Location An excerpt from a transcript of National Security Agency training videos that describe how to verify the location of a targeted device. Press 1
12/10/2013 04/03/2013 NSA CSEC Partnership Information paper from the NSA detailing the NSA’s intelligence relationship with Canada’s Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC).  Press 2
12/10/2013 April, 2013 Location Cookies NSA internal presentation slides detailing signal surveillance techniques and successes. Press 4
12/09/2013 2008 NSA Video Games Paper NSA paper entitled “Games: A look at Emerging Trends, Uses, Threats and Opportunities in Influence Activities,” stressing the risk of leaving games communities under-monitored. Press 82
12/05/2013 04/18/2013 FRA Russia Excerpts from a document related to Swedish-American surveillance of Russia Press 2
12/05/2013 09/10/2010 Italy Spying Excerpts from slides describing spying against the Italian Embassy in Washington DC. Press 4
12/04/2013   Chalkfun Foreignness Excerpt from NSA Agency training manual explaining how to determine if a targeted device is "foreign." Press 1
12/20/2013 05/24/2007 DNI McConnell 2007 Shubert State Secrets Declaration Declaration of Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping Government 59
12/20/2013 04/03/2009 DNI Blair 2009 Jewel State Secrets Declaration Classified declaration of Dennis C. Blair disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping Government 28
12/20/2013 10/30/2009 DNI Blair 2009 Shubert State Secrets Declaration Classified declaration of Dennis C. Blair disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 27
12/20/2013 09/11/2012 DNI Clapper 2012 Jewel State Secrets Declaration Classified declaration of James R. Clapper disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 33
12/20/2013 12/20/2013 DNI Clapper 2013 Jewel Shubert SSP Unclassified Signed Declaration Public declaration of James R. Clapper disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 22
12/20/2013 05/25/2007 NSA Alexander 2007 Shubert Declaration Classified declaration of Lieutenant General Keith B. disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping Government 59
12/20/2013 04/03/2009 NSA Bonanni 2009 Jewel Declaration Classified declaration of Deborah A. Bonanni disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 57
12/20/2013 10/30/2009 NSA Alexander 2009 Shubert Declaration Classified declaration of Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 58
12/20/2013 09/11/2012 NSA Fleisch 2012 Jewel Declaration Classified declaration of Frances J. Fleisch disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 80
12/20/2013 12/20/2013 NSA Fleisch 2013 Jewel Shubert Declaration Unclassified Unclassified declaration of Frances J. Fleisch disclosing information regarding the government’s warrantless wiretapping. Government 30
12/30/2013 01/08/2007 (TS) NSA Quantum Tasking Techniques for the R&T Analyst NSA presentation for Requirements and Tasking Analysts (analysts responsible for infiltrating computers with the help of the NSA's QUANTUM methods). Press 28
12/30/2013 2008 Tailored Access Operations NSA presentation about the Texas Cryptologic Center. Press 14
12/30/2013 2008 NSA’s Spy Catalogue Product catalog from which other NSA employees can order technologies from the ANT division for tapping targets' data. Press 53
1/27/2014 May, 2010 Social Convergence NSA presentation describing information the agency can extract from smartphone traffic. Press 14
12/18/2013 12/12/2013 Liberty and Security in a Changing World Report and recommendations of President Obama's review group on intelligence and communication technologies. Government 308
12/4/2013   FASCIA Slides NSA slides about the FASCIA program, including the volume and type of device-location data collected by the agency. Press 2
12/2/2013 6/23/2010 NSA Lends Support to Upcoming G8 and G20 Summits in Canada Briefing notes on NSA operational plans to conduct surveillance during the 2010 G8 and G20 summits in Canada. Press 4
6/2012 11/30/2013 CSEC Presentation Presentation by Communications Security Establishment Canada on surveillance of Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy. Press 18
11/20/2013 2/14/2013 Notes for Dutch SIGINT/Cyber Analytic Exchange Notes on a meeting with Dutch intelligence services, whose officials described their use of  Computer Network Exploitation technology to hack web forums and collect data of users. Press 3
11/26/2013   Address Books/Serendipity Slides describing collection of data from Internet providers. Press 3
11/26/2013 11/24/2009 RE: (U) MUSCULAR and realms Email from GCHQ to NSA suggesting Microsoft was targeted by NSA program accessing Google and Yahoo traffic. Press 1
11/26/2013 10/3/2013 Program to discredit "radicals" through use of online sexual activity Excerpts from document detailing collection of information on targets' online sexual activity, intended to be used to discredit them. Press  
11/23/2013 2/23/2012 (U) SIGINT Strategy Strategy document detailing NSA mission statement and goals. Press 5
11/23/2013 2012 Worldwide SIGINT/Defense Cryptologic Platform Presentation demonstrating NSA infected 50,000 computers worldwide with malware. Press 1
11/22/2013   Boundless Informant Presentation describing Boundless Informant's "Mission Capabilities from Metadata Records." Press 8
11/22/13   Afghanistan, Norway Slides detailing the collection of call records from Afghanistan and Norway over a period of 30 days. Press 2
11/20/2013 2007 SID Analysts Can Now Unminimize [UK Phone Data] Memo detailing UK-U.S. deal allowing NSA to store data of UK citizens not suspected of wrongdoing. Press  
11/18/2013 04/24/1986 United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 Appendix J Appendix J to the United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) dated April 24, 1986

Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 

8
11/18/2013 07/27/1993 July 27, 1993 United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 United States Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) dated July 27, 1993 prescribing NSA policies and procedures as they relate to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and minimization procedures/rules governing the collection, retention, and dissemination of information about US persons Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 8
11/18/2013 04/27/2005 April 27, 2005 Prepared Attorney General & FBI Testimony 2005 testimony of Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, and Robert S. Mueller, III, Federal Bureau of Investigation, DOJ, before the Select Committee on Intelligence on the government’s use of USA PATRIOT Act authorities Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 11
11/18/2013 2006 2006 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 8
11/18/2013 05/23/2006 Production to Congress of a May 23, 2006 Government Memorandum of Law A memo in support of the government’s application to the FISC for authorization of metadata collection under Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 81
11/18/2013 07/17/2006 July 17, 2006 Court-ordered NSA Inspector General and General Counsel Report A court-ordered NSA report on the adequacy of management controls for the processing and dissemination of US persons information under the bulk telephony metadata program Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 4
11/18/2013 08/17/2006 August 17, 2006 NSA Presentation for the FISC An NSA presentation for the FISC on the bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to Section 501 of FISA and notification of two compliance issues concerning the collection Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 20
11/18/2013 09/05/2006 September 5, 2006 Cover Filing Submission to the FISC An NSA submission to the FISC on the standard minimization procedures governing the FBI’s retention and dissemination of information pursuant to Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 48
11/18/2013 2007 2007 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 8
11/18/2013 01/08/2007 January 8, 2007 NSA Web-Based Training Slides A 2007 NSA web-based training presentation on its bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 39
11/18/2013 01/08/2007 January 8, 2007 Interim Competency Test A 2007 NSA competency test for NSA analysts on legal and compliance issues concerning queries of bulk telephony metadata acquired pursuant to Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 3
11/18/2013 01/08/2007 January 8, 2007 NSA PowerPoint Presentation A 2007 NSA PowerPoint presentation for NSA personnel with access to bulk telephony metadata acquired pursuant to Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 18
11/18/2013 2008 2008 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 8
11/18/2013 08/29/2008 August 29, 2008 NSA Memorandum An NSA memo providing guidance on policy as to the applicable legal standards for querying metadata pursuant to Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 17
11/18/2013 09/2008 September 2008 Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations Attorney General guidelines establishing the framework for the FBI’s use of authorities and investigative methods for counterterrorism purposes and intelligence objectives Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 48
11/18/2013 2009 2009 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 3
11/18/2013 04/10/2009 April 10, 2009 NSA Notification Memorandum to SSCI A memo from the NSA to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) on the status of its ongoing review of  metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 6
11/18/2013 05/08/2009 May 8, 2009 Government Memorandum to the FISC A government memo to the FISC providing preliminary notice of a compliance incident related to the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program under Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 3
11/18/2013 06/29/2009 June 29, 2009 NSA Notification Memorandum to HPSCI A memo from the NSA to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) on the status of its ongoing review of metadata collection programs under Section 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 5
11/18/2013 07/20/2009 July 20, 2009 Order of the FISC A FISC order approving the government’s request for authorization to provide the application and orders in docket number BR 06-05 to Congressional committees Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 6
11/18/2013 08/2009 August 2009 NSA Cryptological School Course 2009 NSA course materials for NSA personnel with access to bulk telephony and electronic communication metadata acquired pursuant to Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 131
11/18/2013 09/01/2009 September 1, 2009 NSA Presentation for the FISC An NSA presentation regarding NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to Section 501 of FISA with respect to NSA’s compliance with the Court’s orders Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 15
11/18/2013 2010 2010 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
11/18/2013 12/01/2010 December 1, 2010 NSA Memorandum to SSCI A memo from the NSA to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) about cell site location information Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
11/18/2013 2011 2011 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 1
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Core Intelligence Oversight Training Materials NSA training materials relating to signals intelligence collection activities involving Executive Order 12333, 1892 DOD Procedures Governing the Activities of DOD Intelligence Components affecting US persons, and NSA/Central Security Service (CSS) Policy 1-23 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 141
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Introduction Introduction to 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 7
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 1 Module 1 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 14
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 2 Module 2 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 12
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 3 Module 3 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 17
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 4 Module 4 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 39
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 5 Module 5 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 10
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials: Module 6 for Analytical Personnel Module 6 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 12
11/18/2013 2011 NSA Course Materials Module 6 for Technical Personnel Module 6 of 2011 NSA Course Materials regarding the agency’s metadata collection programs under Sections 501 and 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 30
11/18/2013 01/25/2011 January 25, 2011 United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 United States Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID 18) dated January 25, 2011 prescribing NSA policies and procedures as they relate to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and minimization procedures/rules governing the collection, retention, and dissemination of information about US persons Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 52
11/18/2013 2012 2012 Attorney General Report on Requests for Access to FISA Business Records An annual report from the Attorney General to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Committee concerning requests for access to business records under Section 215  Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 3
11/18/2013   FISC Opinion Granting Government Application Pursuant to Section 402 A FISC opinion granting the government’s application seeking collection of metadata pursuant to Section 402 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 87
11/18/2013   FISC Opinion Granting Government Application to Reinstate NSA’s Bulk Electronic Metadata Program A FISC opinion granting the government’s application seeking to reinstate NSA’s bulk electronic communications metadata program after its suspension of the program for several months to address compliance issues Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 117
11/18/2013   FISC Order and Supplemental Order A FISC order and supplemental order in response to the government’s reporting of a compliance incident related to NSA’s dissemination of certain query results Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 12
11/18/2013   NSA PowerPoint Slide: Verification Requirements An undated NSA PowerPoint slide describing requirements for the collection of metadata versus content Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 1
11/18/2013   NSA Summary of Requirements Under Section 501 of FISA An undated NSA summary on requirements for the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 3
10/30/2013 03/14/2013 NSA: Special Operations Weekly Excerpt An excerpt from the Special Operations Weekly – an internal NSA publication – describing data collection via the MUSCULAR program. Press 3
10/30/2013   NSA Powerpoint Slide: Google Cloud Exploitation An NSA Powerpoint slide showing the intersection of "Public Internet" and internal "Google Cloud" user data. Press 1
10/28/2013 02/25/2009 NSA Memo: Congressional Notification & Incidents of Compliance An NSA memo to notify the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of compliance incidents identified under an ongoing end-to-end review of bulk telephony metadata collection under Section 215 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
10/28/2013 03/2009 NSA Internal Memo of Understanding An NSA memo of understanding and guidelines governing FISA Business Records access and queries privileges related to data collected through the bulk telephony metadata program under Section 215 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
10/28/2013 05/07/2009 NSA Memo: Congressional Notification & BR FISA End-to-End Review Status An NSA memo to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence providing a status report about the ongoing end-to-end review of the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata collection under Section 215 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 4
10/28/2013 07/02/2009 DOJ Letter to Judge Walton on 2009 NSA FISA Business Records Report A cover letter from the DOJ’s National Security Division to FISC Judge Reggie B. Walton providing notice notification of the NSA’s June 25, 2009 Business Records FISA End-to-End Review Report to the Congressional Intelligence and Judiciary Committees Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 1
10/28/2013 09/10/2009 NSA Memo: Congressional Notification & FISA Business Records Presentations for the FISC An NSA memo to notify the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence of the agency’s presentations to several FISC judges regarding NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program under Section 215 and of FISC reauthorization of the program Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
10/28/2013 10/21/2009 NSA Joint Statement Before the House: Closed Hearing on Patriot Act Reauthorization An NSA Joint Statement Before the House Closed Hearing on Patriot Act Reauthorization by Michael Leiter, Director of National Counterterrorism Center and [Redacted], Associate Deputy Director for Counterterrorism providing information relating to the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program under Section 215 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 7
10/28/2013 12/17/2009 DOJ Letter to Congressman Bobby Scott, John Conyers, and Jerrold Nadler re Public Information on the Use of Section 215 A letter from the DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs providing notice of Executive branch efforts with the Intelligence Committees to make a detailed report on NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program under Section 215 Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 6
10/28/2013 08/16/2010 Cover Letter: DOJ to Congressional and Judiciary Intelligence Committees on Several FISC Documents Related to Section 215 A letter from the DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs to the Congressional Intelligence and Judiciary Committees relating to the NSA collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA, as amended by Section 215 of the Patriot Act Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
10/28/2013 04/01/2011 NSA Memo: Geolocation Information in Mobility Data An NSA Memo to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding receipt of cell site location information and test results Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
10/28/2013 09/01/2011 NSA Memo: Congressional Notification & NSA Acquisition and Use of Telephony Metadata An NSA memo to notify the House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary of the collection of telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 4
10/18/2013 10/11/2013 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Memorandum & Primary Order FISC memorandum and primary order granting the government's request for ongoing daily production to the NSA of "certain telephone call detail records in bulk" Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 23
10/14/2013   Content Acquisition Optimization PowerPoint Slides Internal NSA presentation detailing the collection of hundreds of millions of contact lists from around of the world. Press 9
10/4/2013 June 2012 Tor Stinks Presentation on de-anonymizing users of Tor, a tool meant to protect online anonymity. Press 23
10/4/2013   Peeling back the layers of Tor with EgotisticalGiraffe Presentation on EgotisticalGiraffe, a technique designed by the NSA to attack Tor users. Press 20
10/4/2013   Extracts from an NSA document on Tor Extracts from an NSA document on Tor. Press 9
9/28/2013 1/3/2011 NSA Contact-Chaining Memo NSA memo on "new contact-chaining procedures to allow better, faster analysis" of foreign intelligence targets. Press 3
9/28/2013   NSA Social Network Graph Powerpoint Slide An NSA powerpoint slide illustrating how phone and email data are used to graph the relationships of foreign intelligence targets. Press 1
9/17/2013 8/29/2013 FISC Amended Memorandum Opinion and Primary Order FISC opinion justifying the NSA's phone metadata collection program. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 46
9/10/2013 3/5/2009 Cover Letter to Chairman of the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees Cover letter submitting several FISC opinions and Government filings relating to the Government’s discovery and remediation of compliance incidents in its handling of bulk telephony metadata. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
9/10/2013 9/3/2009 Cover Letter to Chairman of the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees Cover letter submitting the Government’s report to the Court and NSA’s end-to-end review describing its investigation and remediation of compliance incidents in its handling of bulk telephony. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 2
9/10/2013 5/24/2006 Order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Order of the FISC approving the Government’s request for authorization to collect bulk telephony metadata under Section 501 of FISA. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 11
9/10/2013 12/12/2008 Supplemental Opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion of the FISC concluding that the production of bulk telephony metadata records pursuant to Section 501 of FISA is not inconsistent with Sections 2702 and 2703 of Title 18 of the United States Code. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 5
9/10/2013 1/28/2009 Order Regarding Preliminary Notice of Compliance Incident Dated January 15, 2009 from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Order of the FISC directing the Government to provide additional information regarding its identification and notification that NSA had improperly queried the bulk telephony metadata by using an automated “alert list” process that resulted in the use of selectors that had not been individually reviewed and determined to meet the required reasonable articulable suspicion standard. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 5
9/10/2013 2/12/2009 Memorandum of the United States in response to the Court's Order Dated January 28, 2009 Memorandum of the Government providing additional information relating to the compliance incident described directly above and describing additional oversight mechanisms deployed by the Government following identification of this compliance incident. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 121
9/10/2013 2/26/2009 Notice of Compliance Incident Memorandum of the Government providing the FISC with notice of additional compliance incidents identified during NSA’s ongoing end-to-end review of the telephony metadata program. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 18
9/10/2013 3/2/2009 Order from the Foreign Intelligence Court In light of the compliance incidents identified and reported by the Government, the FISC ordered NSA to seek Court approval to query the telephony metadata on a case-by-case basis, except where necessary to protect against an imminent threat to human life “until such time as the Government is able to restore the Court’s confidence that the government can and will comply with the previously approved [Court] procedures for accessing such data.” Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 20
9/10/2013 6/22/2009 Order In response to the Government’s reporting of a compliance incident related to NSA’s dissemination of certain query results discovered during NSA’s end-to-end review, the FISC ordered the Government to report on a weekly basis, any disseminations of information from the metadata telephony program outside of NSA and provide further explanation of the incident in its final report upon completion of the end-to-end review. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 8
9/10/2013 8/19/2009 Report of the United States Report of the Government describing the compliance issues uncovered during NSA’s end-to-end review, including an explanation for how the compliance issues were remedied. Attached to the Report are declarations of the value of the bulk telephony metadata program from the Directors of NSA and the FBI. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 110
9/10/2013 6/25/2009 Implementation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Authorized Business Records FISA NSA's end-to-end review of it's implementation of the FISC's authorization under Section 215. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 46
9/10/2013 9/3/2009 Primary Order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Statement by intelligence officials before Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on FAA reauthorization. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 19
9/10/2013 9/25/2009 Order Regarding Further Compliance Incidents from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court In response to the Government’s identification and notice to the FISC regarding improper dissemination of information related to an ongoing threat, the FISC ordered a hearing to inform the FISC of the scope and circumstances of the compliance incident. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 5
9/10/2013 11/5/2009 Supplemental Opinion and Order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Supplemental Opinion and Order of the FISC reiterating Court ordered restrictions on NSA’s handling of query results of the telephony metadata program, and directing the Government to provide the court with additional information regarding queries of the telephony metadata. Government (ACLU/EFF FOIA Litigation) 7
8/21/2013 2/9/2012 Joint Statement at Senate Hearing Concerning FAA Reauthorization Statement by intelligence officials before Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on FAA reauthorization. Government 14
8/21/2013 12/8/2011 Joint Statement at House Hearing Concerning FAA Reauthorization Statement by intelligence officials before House Select Committee on Intelligence on FAA reauthorization. Government 15
8/21/2013 5/4/2012 Letter to HPSCI Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger Letter to HPSCI Chairman Rogers and Permanent Member Ruppersberger on collection programs under FAA. Government 15
8/21/2013 10/31/2011 Minimization Procedures used by NSA in Connection with FISA Section 702 A description of the "minimization procedures" for the acquisition, retention, use, and dissemination of information about United States persons. Government 13
8/21/2013 August 2011 Semiannual Assessment of Compliance with Procedures and Guidelines Issued Pursuant to Section 702 Report by attorney general and director of national intelligence on compliance with procedures and guidelines issued pursuant to Section 702 FISA. Government 52
8/21/2013 11/30/2011 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Opinion and Order – November 2011 A FISC opinion concluding the NSA’s minimization procedures adequately address the deficiencies identified in the FISC’s ruling from October 3, 2011. Government 24
8/21/2013 9/25/2012 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Opinion and Order – September 2012 A FISC opinion concluding the government has resolved the deficiencies identified in the FISC’s ruling from October 3, 2011. Government 9
8/21/2013 10/3/2011 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Memorandum Opinion - October 2011 A FISC opinion ruling one electronic communications collection program unconstitutional. Government 85
8/15/2013 1/8/2007 NSA Memo: Targeting Rationale (TAR) An NSA document describing how analysts should explain their targeting decisions under the FISA Amendments Act. Press 4
8/15/2013 10/12/2011 FAA Certification Renewals with Caveats An NSA document describing the FISA Court's 2011 FAA Certifications and noting the FISC ruling that certain procedures for the collection of "Multiple Communications Transactions" were "deficient on statutory and constitutional grounds." Press 1
8/15/2013 11/1/2011 Slide: So you got U.S. Person Information? An NSA training slide about what analysts should do when they acquire "U.S. person information." Press 1
8/15/2013 5/3/2012 SID Oversight and Compliance A 2012 quarterly audit of the NSA's surveillance activities, which describes 2,766 violations by the NSA of the surveillance laws and its internal rules and regulations. Read more. Press 13
8/9/2013 2011 NSA Section 702 'Loop Hole' An NSA Section 702 rule change expanding NSA targeting/surveillance authorities. Press 1
8/9/2013 8/9/2013 NSA Missions, Authorities, Oversight, and Partnerships An NSA document released under the Obama administration's guidance explaining the agency's mission, authorities, oversight, and partnerships. Government 7
8/9/2013 8/9/2013 Section 215 - Obama Administration White Paper An Obama Administration white paper on the bulk collection of telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Government 23
7/31/2013 2/25/2008 NSA XKeyscore Powerpoint An NSA training slide describing the purpose and scope of the XKeyscore Program. Read more. Press 32
7/31/2013 4/25/2013 Section 215 - Primary Order A FISC order approving the application of Section 215 for telephony metadata collection. Government 17
7/29/2013 7/29/2013 Judge Walton Answers to Questions re FISC Judge Walton's response to Senate Judiciary Committee questions about FISC operations. Government 30
7/10/2013 4/13/2013 UPSTREAM Powerpoint Slide An NSA training slide about the collection of internet and phone data from fiber-optic cable networks via the UPSTREAM program. Read more. Press 1
6/29/2013 4/13/2013 PRISM Powerpoint Slides re Data Acquisition NSA training slides about the acquisition of surveillance information through the PRISM program. Press 4
6/27/2013 11/20/2007 NSA Memo to DOD - Proposed Amendment to Conduct Analysis of Metadata A memo from the NSA to the DOD seeking approval of a proposed amendment to procedures governing the NSA's metadata analysis. Press 16
6/27/2013 3/24/2009 Draft NSA IG Report A 2009 NSA IG Report reviewing President Bush's post-9/11 surveillance programs. Press 51
6/27/2013 2/2/2011 2011 OIG Report on Bulk Collection A DOJ report to the Senate Intelligence Committee describing the government's bulk collection program under Section 215. Press 9
06/25/20123 6/25/2013 General Alexander Letter re NSA Fact Sheet Inaccuracy A letter from General Alexander responding to Senators Wyden and Udall about the NSA's Section 702 fact sheet inaccuracy. Government 2
6/24/2013 6/24/2013 Wyden-Udall Letter on NSA Fact Sheet Inaccuracy A letter from Senators Wyden and Udall to General Alexander on a "significant" inaccuracy in the NSA's Section 702 fact sheet. Government 2
6/23/2013 12/14/2009 2009 OIG Report on Bulk Collection A DOJ report to the House Intelligence Committee describing the government's bulk collection program under Section 215. Press 7
6/20/2013 7/29/2009 FAA Minimization Procedures FISC document describing the NSA's minimization procedures under Section 702 of FISA (the FISA Amendments Act). Read more. Press 9
6/20/2013 7/29/2009 FAA Targeting Procedures FISC document describing the NSA's targeting procedures under Section 702 of FISA (the FISA Amendments Act). Press 9
6/18/2013 6/18/2013 NSA Section 702 and Section 215 Fact Sheets NSA factsheets on Section 702 of FISA and Section 215 of the Patriot Act that were later withdrawn after Senators Wyden and Udall complained of Section 702 inaccuracies. Government 4
6/11/2013 7/13/2012 NSA Boundless Informant Powerpoint Slides NSA training slides describing the Boundless Informant tool and "mission capabilities from metadata records." Press 4
6/11/2013 9/6/2012 NSA Boundless Informant Frequently Asked Questions An NSA "Work-in-Progress" factsheet describing the Boundless Informant datamining tool. Press 3
6/6/2013 4/13/2013 PRISM Overview Powerpoint Slides NSA training slides providing an introduction and overview of the PRISM program. Press 4
6/5/2013 4/25/2013 Section 215 - Secondary Order (Verizon) A FISC order approving the application of Section 215 for Verizon metadata collection. Read more. Press 4

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