Opinion ID: 4465383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Targeting

Text: Targeting generally refers to the decision to surveil an individual or his or her channels of electronic communications, such as an e-mail address. The government may not intentionally target for Section 702 surveillance anyone located in the United States or a United States person outside the United States. 50 U.S.C. §§ 1881a(b)(1), (3). Nor may it target a non-United States person if the purpose of such acquisition is to target a particular, known person reasonably believed to be in the United States.n 50 U.S.C. § 188la(b)(2). 9 Some of these terms, such as collection, are terms of art, but their use is not necessarily uniform across the various government agencies or for different forms of surveillance. See, e.g., Lee, Perlin & Schottenfeld, Gathering Intelligence at 95 (highlighting definitional variances for terms like collection, acquisition, and targeting across the various surveillance programs). For the purposes of providing background to Hasbajrami's case, we define the terms primarily as each is used by the PCLOB. 20 The precise mechanisms each agency must follow to target communications are not specified by the statute. Instead, Section 702 requires the AG and the DNI to adopt targeting procedures each year that will govern how the program functions at each agency tasked with Section 702 surveillance. See 50 U.S.C. §§ 1881a(a), (d). While labelled targeting procedures, the procedures are just as much about who is not to be targeted under Section 702 (that is, how to prevent acquisition of the communications of those in the United States or who are United States persons) as about setting out who is to be targeted. In this opinion, our concern with targeting' is with the procedures designed to protect the constitutional privacy rights of Americans and comply with the Fourth Amendment inside the United States, and not with the obviously confidential procedures and criteria by which United States intelligence agencies decide which non-United States persons located abroad are appropriate objects of surveillance. The targeting procedures are supposed to ensure that any authorized acquisition is limited to targeting persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States and to prevent the intentional acquisition of any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at 21 the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States.n 50 U.S.C. § 1881a(d)(l). Targeting procedures are also subject to the limitations related to targeting United States persons outlined above. SO U.S.C. § 1881a(b). The NSA and the FBI each develop targeting procedures tailored to the agency's particular mission and purpose in using Section 702-acquired information. PCLOB Report at 41-43, 47. Once the required procedures have been formulated, the DNI and AG must seek approval of their proposed targeting procedures from the FISC. 50 U.S.C. § 1881a(d)(2). The FISC reviews the proposed standards for compliance with both statutory and constitutional requirements. See, e.g., In re Proceedings Required by 702(i) of FISA Amendments Act of 2008, No. MISC 08-01, 2008 WL 9487946, at •s (FISA Ct. Aug 27, 2008); Redacted, 2011 WL 10945618 at •1 (FISA Ct. Oct. 3, 2011) (Bates Decision). In contrast to traditional domestic search warrants and FISA warrants, which authorize searches or seizures of specific persons, places, or things based on individualized probable cause, judicial review of Section 702 functions as a form of programmatic pre-clearance. [T}he Court is required to consider whether the targeting ... procedures adopted by the Government meet the requirements of the statute and ... are consistent with 22 the Fourth Amendment. The Court is not required, in the course of this Section 702(i} review, to reach beyond the Government's procedures and conduct a facial review of the constitutionality of the statute. In re Proceedings, 2008 WL 9487946, at ,.5; see also PCLOB at 26·31 (describing judicial review proceedings under Section 702). Once its procedures are approved by the FISC, an agency can begin surveilling individuals it seeks to target. The NSA ''initiates all Section 702 targeting, and thus makes all initial decisions pursuant to its targeting procedures.'' PCLOB Report at 42. According to the PCLOB, the CIA and the FBI can 'nominate' targets to the NSA for Section 702 targeting but the NSA is required to ·make the determination whether to initiate targeting. Id. Section 702 surveillance usually begins when an agency tasks a specific selector or facility, usually an e•mail address or telephone number. See id. at 32. Much information about the targeting standards used by the NSA remains classified, but generally [i}f they are to fulfill their purposes ... [the targeting procedures submitted to the FISC for approval] should contain a description of factors that in isolation or combination justify a reasonable belief that the target is abroad.'' Kris & Wilson § 17:7. According to one commentator, the NSA has 23 created a presumption of non-U.S. person status/' assuming that the individual is a non-U.S. person if the agency does not know its target is a United States person. See Donohue, Section 702 at 158.