Business

How the NSA Can Restore Public Trust

A special prosecutor would have free rein to go through the NSA's files and discover the full extent of what the agency is doing. By Bruce Schneier

Business

Revealed: What U.S. Spy Agencies Spend Their Money On

Newly leaked documents, given to The Washington Post by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, show how U.S. spy agencies spend their $56 billion dollar budget. By Dashiell Bennett

Business

Did Snowden and Manning Really Know What They Were Leaking?

Manning and Snowden are seen by many as heroes for leaking classified information. But the real problem is with the indiscriminate nature of their leaks. By Mark Bowden

Ideas

How Badly Did Manning Hurt the United States?

Manning said he was sorry for leaking troves of classified information from Iraq and Afghanistan. But just how much damage did he do? By Stephanie Gaskell

Policy

What the NSA's Compliance Data Tells Us

One piece of data, left unredacted in its report to Congress, appears to give more information on the surveillence program than the NSA has ever released publicly. By Philip Bump

Business

Stop Shrouding the U.S. Drone Program in Secrecy

What if Obama was forced by Congress to share, after every lethal drone strike, a detailed summary of the evidence against the people killed? By Conor Friedersdorf

Science & Tech

The NSA May Have Access to 75 Percent of Domestic Internet Traffic

New revelations indicate that the agency's domestic surveillance capacity is much broader, and older, than what was previously reported. By Abby Ohlheiser.

Policy

The NSA Needs a Church Committee

It's time for a new Church Committee, the mid-1970s surveillance oversight investigation named for Sen. Frank Church, and this time it should be led by Sen. Ron Wyden. By Conor Friedersdorf.

Science & Tech

Exclusive: NSA Loophole Keeps Congress Clueless on Foreign Intel Violations

The leaked audit showing the NSA broke privacy rules nearly 3,000 times in one year is just the tip of the iceberg. The NSA is not telling Congress much more. By Marc Ambinder

Ideas

Brooklyn Is Not Baghdad: What Is the CIA Teaching the NYPD?

Brooklyn is not Baghdad. Congress should show more concern that the CIA is teaching NYPD an unwarranted counterinsurgency mentality. By Faiza Patel and Daniel Michelson-Horowitz

Ideas

What the NSA’s Massive Org Chart (Probably) Looks Like

Amid public cries for greater transparency into the intelligence world, here’s a look at the National Security Agency’s organizational chart -- as far as we know it. By Marc Ambinder

Ideas

The Filmmaker Behind the Edward Snowden Leaks

A new <em>New York Times</em> magazine profile describes how far Laura Poitras has gone to protect her privacy, while also reporting on the government's surveillance programs. By Philip Bump

Policy

Obama: 'We've Struck the Right Balance' on Spying

President Obama announces four major reforms to strengthen oversight of government spying programs. By Matt Berman and Brian Resnick

Science & Tech

Secure Email Service Used by Snowden Shuts Down

The head of the company that runs the secret email service that NSA leaker Edward Snowden used says he can no longer be "complicit in crimes against the American people." By Zachary M. Seward

Science & Tech

How Bad Commercial GEOINT Helped Sink the USS Guardian

NGA says over-reliance on error ridden commercial satellite imagery, among other missteps, doomed the USS Guardian to strike a reef. By Bob Brewin

Business

The Government's Real Problem With the Bradley Manning Trial

Despite a guilty verdict on most counts, the government still can't share intelligence. By Matthew Cooper

Policy

Journalists and Whistleblowers Are the Real Winners in the Manning Trial

Manning's acquittal on the charge of aiding the enemy sent a strong signal to national security whistleblowers and journalists: Go ahead and leak. By Brian Resnick and Matt Berman

Policy

The Government Needs to Stop Overreacting to NSA Leaks

The more serious threat of NSA surveillance comes from the the collective insanity or the simple loss of perspective, that an attack evokes. By James Fallows

Business

Obama's Whistleblower Witchunt Won't Work at DOD

The U.S. has tried something like President Obama’s 'Insider Threat Program' before. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. By Gabe Rottman

Science & Tech

Pentagon Says Asian Spies Are Targeting Radiation-Hardened Electronics

Official review finds increased espionage in electronics that can withstand radiation events. By Rachel Oswald