Brief Overview of U.S. Surveillanc Since the 1970s
Category: Other
Updated: 11 Nov 2017
Contributors
Created byBenji Brandt
Attachments
Events
June 9, 1972
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United States of America v. U.S. District Court
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The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the 4th
Amendment protects against unreasonable
electronic searches, even when there are
domestic threats to the nation.January 27, 1975
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Church Committee Report Released
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Senator Frank Church's committee's
investigations into U.S. intelligence
agencies conclude that agencies
have undermined U.S. citizens'
constitutional rights.October 25, 1978
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Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
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The U.S. Congress passes FISA to
better control and monitor agencies'
activities. This results in the creation
of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (FISC).Soon After 9/11
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Bush Authorizes Warrantless Surveillance
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President George W. Bush issues an
executive order directing the NSA to begin
monitoring phone calls, Internet Activity,
and text messaging if any party involved
is located outside of the United States.September 11, 2001October 26, 2001
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USA PATRIOT Act Enacted
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The act provides broad
powers to the U.S.
government to obtain
intelligence on suspected
terrorists, and adds the ability
for the government to hold
suspected terrorists
indefinitely.December 16, 2005
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The NY Times Reveals NSA's Surveillance
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With the backing of a thorough investigation,
the New York Times publishes a piece
detailing much of the NSA's warrantless
surveillance program.February 5, 2006
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Telecom Cahoots with NSA Revealed
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USA Today reports published indicate
that at least three of the major U.S.
telecommunications companies - AT&T,
Sprint, and Verizon, worked with the
NSA in its surveillance program.August 5, 2007
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Protect America Act of 2007 Enacted
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Facing pressure over the NY Times and
USA Today stories, President Bush urged
Congress to pass this amendment to the
the FISA in their2007 August recess.
Essentially, it gave Congressional approval
to much of what Bush's 2001 executive
order had already directed the NSA to
begin doing.July 10, 2008
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FISA is Amended Again
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The FISA amendment
renews several key
parts of earlier
amendments to FISA,
and grants telecom
companies immunity if
they participate in NSA
surveillance.
Then-Senator Barack
Obama voted yes
on the bill.June 7, 2013
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Obama Responds to PRISM Revelations
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Long story short, President Obama
defends the NSA program, saying it
is necessary for continued national
security, and that it has proper oversight.Barack Obama InauguratedBill Clinton InnauguratedGeorge H.W. Bush InnauguratedRonald Reagan InauguratedRichard Nixon Resigns, Gerald Ford InauguratedJimmy Carter InauguratedNovember 2005
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Dual Elliptic Curve Standardized
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The encryption standard pushed
by the NSA is officially standardized.June and August 2007
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Dual EC to have Potential For Backdoor
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In June 2007, Adam Young and Moti
Yung publish a paper that utilizes
twisted elliptic curves to gain a backdoor.
Dan Shumow and Niels Ferguson provide
an informal demonstration of this in
August 2007.September 5, 2013
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NSA's Bullrun Program is Revealed
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The Bullrun program has the express
intention of introducing weak
encryption standards. A New York
Times article states that the Dual
Elliptic Curve was once such standard.June 2013
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SIMON and SPECK Published
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The NSA's latest encryption
algorithms, pending ISO
approval, are first published.May 20, 2013
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Edward Snowden Reveals PRISM Surveillance
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NSA contractor Edward Snowden works with
the news organization the Guardian
to expose the next big surveillance, program
PRISM, which not only works with telecom
companies, bu tech companies such as
Google, Facebok, and Microsoft.July 20, 2012
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FISC Says U.S. Surveillance Actions are Not-So Constitutional
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James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, allows U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden to reveal that the FISC had found
government surveillance activities "unreasonable under the
4th Amendment" "at least once."George W. Bush Inaugurated
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