The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released its tenth Annual Statistical Transparency Report (ASTR). The ASTR, released to the public every year since 2014, provides an overview of how the Intelligence Community (IC) uses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and other national security authorities to accomplish its mission. The ODNI explains, “The majority of the report covers the government’s use of FISA. FISA authorizes electronic surveillance and other forms of collection to obtain foreign intelligence information. Over the years, it has been amended, most recently by the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017.”

The report is organized into seven major sections:

1. FISA Probable Cause Authorities: Covering FISA Title I, Title III, and Title VII: Sections 703 and 704
2. FISA Section 702: “Title VII of FISA includes Section 702, which permits the Attorney General and the DNI to jointly authorize the targeting of (i) non-U.S. persons (ii) who are reasonably believed to be located outside the United States (iii) to acquire foreign intelligence information.”
3. FISA Criminal Use and Notice Provisions: Covering FISA Sections 106 & 305
4. FISA Title IV – Use of Pen Register and Trap and Trace (PR/TT) Devices
5. FISA Title V – Business Records
6. Statistics on IC Dissemination of U.S. Person Information pursuant to Intelligence Community Policy Guidance (ICPG) 107.1
7. Statistics on National Security Letters (NSLs) authorized by a number of non-FISA statutory provisions
   

Overall, the ASTR provides important insights into the government’s use of national security authorities. It highlights the importance of transparency and accountability, and serves as an important tool for promoting public trust and confidence in government actions related to national security.

For more information, check out documents in HSDL related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and previous editions of the Annual Statistical Transparency Report.