Chris Calabrese’s Testimony Before PCLOB on “Countering Terrorism While Protecting Privacy and Civil Liberties: Where Do We Stand in 2019?”

Chairman Klein and Members Felten and Nitze:

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).  CDT is a nonpartisan, nonprofit technology policy advocacy organization dedicated to protecting civil liberties and human rights, including privacy, free speech and access to information.  We applaud the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) for holding this public forum on the current state of affairs of civil liberties and privacy in the fight against terrorism, which is of course central to PCLOB’s mission.

Today I will discuss the important role that PCLOB plays in this area, and I will encourage PCLOB to focus on four initiatives:

(i) oversight of counterterrorism surveillance conducted under Executive Order 12333 (E.O. 12333);

(ii) promoting disclosures related to reauthorization of Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act;

(iii) investigating use by the Intelligence Community (IC) of data sets obtained from the private sector; and

(iv) misuse of counterterrorism authorities for domestic surveillance, such as surveillance of groups like Black Lives Matter.