DNI Official Suggests Update to Federal Guidance on Social Media Data Collection
Intelligence agencies need to re-examine federal guidance, last updated in 2011, for collecting public-facing online and social media data, Alexander Joel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence civil liberties chief, told the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Friday. Basic principles guiding agencies are “good ones,” Joel said during PCLOB’s first public hearing since May 2015. Agencies worry about First Amendment protections and whether officials should be explicitly linked to a person’s social network to collect public-facing data, Joel said. Collecting publicly facing data on individuals can be critical to developing overseas intelligence and preparing data for policymakers, he said.
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Joel said certain forms of “secret oversight” are “absolutely essential to a democracy.” Officials recognize, however, that it’s hard to establish trust if certain activities are kept secret, he said.
Secrecy isn't the way to ensure public trust, said Columbia University Knight First Amendment Institute Senior Staff Attorney Alex Abdo. The intelligence community hasn't said how many Americans were incidentally “swept up” in anti-terror probes of foreign targets (see 1710110029). Joel defended the IC, saying its recent transparency work has been “groundbreaking.”
PCLOB member questions focused on what surveillance and privacy issues the board should prioritize. The board respects the need to protect the U.S. against terrorism but also appreciates the public's healthy skepticism about intelligence-gathering activities, Chairman Adam Klein said. He was joined by members Jane Nitze and Ed Felten. Travis LeBlanc and Aditya Bamzai await full Senate confirmation (see 1902050061).
Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which expires Dec. 15, deserves PCLOB scrutiny, Abdo, Center for Democracy & Technology Vice President-Policy Chris Calabrese and Center for a New American Security Senior Fellow Carrie Cordero told the panel. Section 215 lets agencies obtain secret court orders that force third parties, like telcos, to deliver records relevant to antiterror and foreign intelligence probes. CDT wants PCLOB to also examine private sale of personal data to intelligence agencies for counterterrorism purposes and investigation of domestic groups like Black Lives Matter, Calabrese said. He suggested the panel release findings on executive order 12333, possible now that the board’s quorum is restored.
Agencies could use homomorphic encryption technology to help quell privacy concerns about data collection, said National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Commissioner Jason Matheny. He warned about risks of deployment of biometric identification technology like facial recognition, which he said the U.S. won’t have a “lot of control over.” The U.S. needs standards of privacy, including encryption standards for biometric data, that companies and government should follow, Matheny said.