Publisher's Synopsis
This report, issued by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, examines the collection of electronic communications under Section 702, and provides analysis and recommendations regarding the program's implementation. Section 702 has its roots in the President's Surveillance Program developed in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The Section 702 program is extremely complex, involving multiple agencies, collecting multiple types of information, for multiple purposes. Although U.S. persons may not be targeted under Section 702, communications of or concerning U.S. persons may be acquired in a variety of ways. An example is when a U.S. person communicates with a non-U.S. person who has been targeted, resulting in what is termed "incidental" collection. Another example is when two non-U.S. persons discuss a U.S. person. Communications of or concerning U.S. persons that are acquired in these ways may be retained and used by the government, subject to applicable rules and requirements. The communications of U.S. persons may also be collected by mistake, as when a U.S. person is erroneously targeted or in the event of a technological malfunction, resulting in "inadvertent" collection. Overall, the Board has found that the information the program collects has been valuable and effective in protecting the nation's security and producing useful foreign intelligence.
