Breaking News: U.S. National Security

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Released: 27-Jan-2014 3:00 PM EST
Privacy Law Expert Says Obama’s Surveillance Reforms a Good but Incomplete Start
Washington University in St. Louis

3.5 out of 12 – That is the score the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave President Obama’s highly anticipated address on NSA spying last week. And while lauding Obama for recognizing the dangers of government surveillance and the importance of discussing it, Washington University in St. Louis privacy law expert Neil Richards agrees that the president did not quite go far enough to protect individual privacy.

Released: 18-Dec-2013 6:00 PM EST
Spot-on NSA Ruling Rightfully Questions Effectiveness of Phone Surveillance, Says Privacy Law Expert
Washington University in St. Louis

Federal Judge Richard J. Leon’s recent decision ruling the National Security Agency phone surveillance program unconstitutional is absolutely correct as a matter of law, says Neil M. Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “The bulk data collection at issue in the case reveals a tremendous amount about us – who we know, who we confide in, where we go, and with whom,” he says. “It’s exactly the sort of information that should require a warrant before the government obtains it.” Richards was struck by Judge Leon’s willingness to question whether this surveillance program was effective.

Released: 31-Oct-2013 8:00 AM EDT
NSA Snooping? Surveillance-Free Cell Technology Within Reach
Cornell University

Stephen B. Wicker, electronic surveillance and privacy expert, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University and author of “Cellular Convergence and the Death of Privacy,” discusses how technology, social trends and government policy have opened the floodgates for surveillance and eroded privacy worldwide.

Released: 9-Sep-2013 3:20 PM EDT
U.Va. Tip Sheet UPDATED: The Situation in Syria
University of Virginia

Should the U.S. pursue a military strike on Syria? Some believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime must be punished for its suspected use of chemical weapons Aug. 21 in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus. Others feel that the U.S. is not the world’s police and should not get involved in Syria’s civil conflict.

Released: 5-Sep-2013 3:00 PM EDT
U.Va. Tip Sheet: The Situation in Syria
University of Virginia

Should the U.S. pursue a military strike on Syria? Some believe Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime must be punished for its suspected use of chemical weapons Aug. 21 in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus. Others feel that the U.S. is not the world’s police and should not get involved in Syria’s civil conflict.

Released: 23-Aug-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Email Privacy a Hallmark of a Free Society
Washington University in St. Louis

As encrypted email services like Lavabit shut their doors, the importance of email privacy becomes even more clear writes Neil Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, in a recent CNN opinion piece. “E-mail privacy matters because our intellectual privacy matters,” he says.

Released: 29-Jul-2013 5:00 PM EDT
Clad in Controversy
IEEE Spectrum Magazine

The first of a controversial new class of guided-missle destroyers is nearing completion.

Released: 9-Jul-2013 12:05 AM EDT
Agents Like Snowden Prone to Irrational Decision Making
Cornell University

U.S. intelligence agents – like the embattled Edward Snowden – are more prone to irrational inconsistencies in decision making when compared to college students and post-college adults. That’s according a new Cornell University study to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science.

Released: 27-Jun-2013 2:55 PM EDT
Online Privacy and Freedom of Speech: What’s Next for the NSA
Wake Forest University

Many Americans are questioning their freedom of speech and expression in light of the National Security Agency (NSA) leaks scandal. Just wait, cautions privacy expert and Wake Forest University communication professor Ananda Mitra. The NSA can do this in America because we have freedom of expression.

Released: 26-Jun-2013 10:00 AM EDT
New Study Shows Public Support Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems
RTI International

A new report shows that the majority of the U.S. population supports the use of unmanned aircraft (or drones) for homeland security, fighting crime, search and rescue, and commercial applications.

Released: 19-Jun-2013 3:00 PM EDT
New Survey Shows Widespread Opposition to ‘Killer Robots,’ Support for New Ban Campaign
University of Massachusetts Amherst

The results of a new survey by the University of Massachusetts Amherst show that a majority of Americans across the political spectrum oppose the outsourcing of lethal military and defense targeting decisions to machines. The opposition to autonomous weaponry is bipartisan, with the strongest opposition on the far left and far right, and among active and former members of the military.

Released: 14-Jun-2013 2:10 PM EDT
New Poll Finds Few Massachusetts Residents Worried about Future Terror Attacks
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Approaching the two-month anniversary of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, a new UMass Poll released today by the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that only one-in-eight Massachusetts residents are very concerned about a terrorist attack where they live. The poll also indicated distinct party-line divisions regarding which government officials and agencies were to blame for failing to prevent the attack.

Released: 12-Jun-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Texas A&M Prof: NSA Surveillance Legal, Most Citizens not Targets
Texas A&M University

Supposed “bombshell revelations” about NSA surveillance programs are, at this point, much ado about nothing, says a professor at Texas A&M University.

Released: 7-Jun-2013 2:15 PM EDT
American University Celebrates 50th Anniversary of JFK’s “A Strategy of Peace”
American University

Kennedy's 1963 American University commencement speech called for a nuclear test ban treaty and outlined a bold vision at the height of the Cold War. The speech is hailed as one of Kennedy's finest according to Kennedy's legendary speechwriter Ted Sorensen.

Released: 23-May-2013 4:00 PM EDT
Drones May Violate International Law
Washington University in St. Louis

As President Obama gives a speech on national security — including defending U.S. use of drones to combat terrorism — Leila Sadat, JD, international law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, argues that such targeted killing by unmanned planes may violate international humanitarian law. Legalities aside, she also questions whether it promotes U.S. interests abroad.

Released: 23-Apr-2013 1:30 PM EDT
Increasing Surveillance a Dangerous Reaction to Boston Bombings, Says Privacy Law Expert
Washington University in St. Louis

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, some people are calling for an increase in surveillance cameras throughout U.S. cities. “This would be a mistake,” says Neil Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “It would be dangerous to our civil liberties, and it would be bad policy.” Richards gives his personal reaction to the Boston bombings and offers three reasons why increasing the number of surveillance cameras would be an unnecessary response to recent events in a CNN opinion piece, “Surveillance State No Answer to Terror.”



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