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Press Release | Sept. 12, 2019

NSA Releases First Semi-Annual Report on the Activities of the NSA Civil Liberties & Privacy Officer

FORT MEADE, Md.  –  

The National Security Agency (NSA) announced today the public release of its first Semi-Annual Report of the NSA Civil Liberties and Privacy (CLP) Officer. 

The unclassified report covers the time period of Jan. – June 2018 and summarizes information on the discharge of the civil liberties and privacy functions of the NSA CLP Officer, Rebecca Richards, and her office. 

“This report provides greater transparency to the public about the activities of the Agency, and the report underscores NSA’s commitment to protecting civil liberties and privacy,” said Richards. “In the past we reported much of this same information through the Dept. of Defense Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer. Having an NSA specific report, allows the Agency to provide more information to the public than has previously been available.”  

Section 1062 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458),  as amended by Section 109 of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, requires that the Director of the NSA designate a privacy and civil liberties officer who reports directly to the head of the agency on matters related to privacy and civil liberties. The law also requires the NSA CLP Officer to issue a report at least semi-annually in an unclassified form, with a classified annex when necessary, to the appropriate committees of Congress, the Director of the NSA, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). This law also requires that the unclassified report be made available, to the greatest extent possible, to the public.   

To read the report, please visit the Civil Liberties and Privacy page on NSA.gov.