EPIC, Coalition Urge DNI Gabbard to Increase Public Trust and Oversight of Government Surveillance

In a letter sent today, EPIC and a coalition of civil society organizations called on the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, to take initial steps to improve public trust and oversight of government surveillance authorities. Specifically, the coalition urged the DNI to “declassify the type of service provider at issue in the new “Electronic Communications Service Provider” (ECSP) definition and “publish a U.S. Person estimate for Section 702.” The new definition of ECSP, which was modified by the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, seemingly allows the NSA to compel almost any business to cooperate in Section 702 Surveillance. Members of Congress from both parties and civil society have sought for years an estimate on the number of U.S. persons whose communications are collected under Section 702 surveillance. The coalition also asked that the DNI meet with civil society on a regular basis about surveillance and transparency issues as previous administrations have done.