IP: USSID 18 - Procedures on NSA collection data on "U.S. persons"(fwd)

-- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204/">leitl</a> ______________________________________________________________ ICBMTO: N48 04'14.8'' E11 36'41.2'' http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204 57F9CFD3: ED90 0433 EB74 E4A9 537F CFF5 86E7 629B 57F9 CFD3 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 16:54:18 -0400 From: David Farber Reply-To: farber@cis.upenn.edu To: ip-sub-1@majordomo.pobox.com Subject: IP: USSID 18 - Procedures on NSA collection data on "U.S. persons"

Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:52:34 -0500 From: John Lyon To: dave@farber.net X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.472)

Out of curiosity I went hunting for info on the United States Signals Intelligence Directives (USSIDs) I had to be aware of in a former line of work.

Much to my surprise, USSID 18, which outlines procedures for the NSA's collection of data on "U.S. persons" was declassified just over a year ago.

I thought the document might be of interest to IPers, especially at this time.

An introduction, and links to the archives can be found at:

http://cipherwar.com/news/00/nsa_surveillance.htm

(From the site above:)

In the aftermath of revelations in the 1970s about NSA interception of the communications of anti-war and other political activists new procedures were established governing the interception of communications involving Americans. The version of USSID 18 currently in force was issued in July 1993 and "prescribes policies and procedures and assigns responsibilities to ensure that the missions and functions of the United States SIGINT System (USSS) are conducted in a manner that safeguards the constitutional rights of U.S. persons."

(And a bit from USSID 18, itself - any errors in transcription are my fault:)

SECTION 1 - PREFACE

1.1. (U) The Fourth Amendment ot the Unites States Constitution protects all U.S. persons anywhere in the world and all persons within the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures by any person or agency acting on behalf of the U.S. Government. The Supreme Court has ruled that the interception of electronic communications is a search and seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. It is therefore mandatory that signals intelligence (SIGINT) operations be conducted pursuant to procedures which meet the reasonableness requirements of the fourth amendment.

1.2. (U) In determining whether United States SIGING System (USSS) operations are "reasonable," it is necessary to balance the U.S. Government's need for foreign intelligence information and the privacy interests of persons protected by the Fourth Amendment. Striking that balance has consumed much time and effort by all branches of the United States Government. The results of that effort are reflected in the references listed in Section 2 below. Together, these references require the minimization of U.S. person information collected, processed, retained or disseminated by the USSS. The purpose of this document is to implement these minimization requirements.

1.3. (U) Several themes run throughout this USSID. The most important is that intelligence operation and the protection of constitutional rights are not incompatible. It is not necessary to deny legitimate foreign intelligence collection or suppress legitimate foreign intelligence information to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. Persons.

1.4. (U) Finally, these minimization procedures implement the constitutional principle of "reasonableness" by giving different categories of individuals and entities different levels of protection. These levels range from the stringent protection accorded U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens in the United States to provisions relating to foreign diplomats in the U.S. These differences reflect yet another main theme of these procedures, that is, that the focus of all foreign intelligence operation is on foreign entities and persons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- JEL

For archives see: http://lists.elistx.com/archives/interesting-people/