Science & Tech

Why the Military Needs Commercial Satellite Technology

The need for commerical satellite technology will only grow as data usage increases and more UAVs take to the air due to the asymmetrical threat environment. By Rick Lober

Business

Wanted: A New Privacy Officer at the NSA

Candidates for the new NSA position must be highly regarded in the privacy and civil liberties community and would be paid $173,000 a year. By Leo Mirani

Science & Tech

Facebook's Advice to the NSA

The broader problem, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, is the NSA's continued obfuscation of its programs, even after their revelation into the public mind and the public conversation. By Megan Garber

Business

Close the NSA's Reagan-Era Collection Loophole

There are many ways NSA could win back public trust, protect privacy, and still do its job. One way: cancel an executive order signed by Ronald Reagan. By Marc Ambinder

Business

Sequester Forces Intel Agencies to Take More Risks, Clapper Says

Automatic cuts' effect on intelligence-gathering won’t be obvious right away, Clapper warns. By Charles S. Clark

Policy

House Intel Chair Wants Arab Troops To Secure Chemical Weapons

Obama's threat of war is working, says House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., but securing chemical weapons will need Arab League boots on the ground. By Sara Sorcher

Ideas

Does America Need to Give Up Some Security to Fix the NSA?

The agency -- and its director -- may have pushed the edges of the law. It's time that some of its power is drawn down, even if its comes at a cost. By Bruce Schneier

Science & Tech

Meet the Encryption Aficionados Who Know How to Hide From the NSA's Watching Eye

Privacy advocates are using 'cryptoparties' to train computer users to better guard their data against surveillance. By Greg Thomas

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