National Security Letters: The Checks and Balances Aren't Strong Enough - Sometimes They're Nonexistent

Presented at The Eleventh HOPE (2016), July 22, 2016, 10 p.m. (60 minutes).

Twelve years have passed since Nicholas Merrill first began his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act and, specifically, the warrantless searches known as National Security Letters (NSLs). Now that he can tell the full story, what really happened? How much has actually changed because of the 12-year court case? If the government lost, why are NSLs still being issued at a rate of 50,000 per year? Who is doing anything about this problem, and what are they doing? What are the respective roles of litigation, legislation, and technical approaches to the issue of privacy?

Presenters:

• Nicholas Merrill
  Nicholas Merrill is the executive director of The Calyx Institute, a nonprofit educational organization based in New York City. Prior to founding The Calyx Institute, he founded one of the first Internet service providers in New York: Calyx Internet Access in 1994. In 2004, he began a 12-year legal challenge to National Security Letters, and their unconstitutional searches and "gag orders" - another term for non-disclosure orders.

Links:

• https://xi.hope.net/schedule.html#-national-security-letters-the-checks-and-balances-aren-t-strong-enough-sometimes-they-re-nonexistent- (Conference Schedule)

Similar Presentations:

• The Eleventh HOPE (2016) / National Security Letters The Checks and Balances Arent Enough