Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities
The order establishes binding privacy and civil liberties safeguards governing how U.S. intelligence agencies may collect, retain, and share signals intelligence — surveillance gathered from communications and electronic systems — and creates a new Data Protection Review Court to hear complaints from foreign nationals who believe their personal data was mishandled.
It matters because it gives non-U.S. persons a formal, enforceable channel to challenge alleged violations of U.S. surveillance law, directly addressing longstanding international concerns about American intelligence practices and enabling cross-border commercial data transfers with allied nations.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs all elements of the Intelligence Community to conduct signals intelligence activities only when necessary to advance a validated intelligence priority, prohibits collection for specified purposes such as suppressing dissent or gaining commercial competitive advantage, and requires bulk collection to be used only as a last resort. It mandates that each Intelligence Community element update its privacy and civil liberties policies within one year, publish those policies publicly to the maximum extent possible, and maintain senior legal, oversight, and compliance officials with independent authority. The Attorney General is directed to establish a Data Protection Review Court — a new quasi-judicial body staffed by security-cleared judges and special advocates — to hear appeals of complaint decisions made by the Civil Liberties Protection Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (CLPO).
The order also directs the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to build a complaint submission process for foreign nationals from countries the Attorney General designates as "qualifying states," giving those individuals a right to seek review of alleged surveillance violations. It does not alter existing rules governing collection of U.S. persons' information under FISA or Executive Order 12333, and it does not confer any new judicial review rights beyond the redress mechanism it creates.
Who it affects
All Intelligence Community elements and the agencies containing them, including their employees who handle signals intelligence data. Foreign nationals whose personal data may have been transferred to the United States from qualifying states and who believe U.S. surveillance law was violated. U.S. companies engaged in cross-border data transfers with allied nations also benefit indirectly.
Why it matters
Foreign nationals from designated allied countries now have a formal legal pathway to challenge whether U.S. agencies mishandled their personal data collected through surveillance. Intelligence Community agencies face binding new minimization, retention, and dissemination rules and must comply with remediation orders from the new court.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
Complaints flow through a two-stage process: the CLPO investigates first and may order remediation; either the complainant or an affected Intelligence Community element may then appeal to a three-judge Data Protection Review Court panel, which selects a special advocate to represent the complainant's interests. All participants must hold security clearances. The Attorney General designates which foreign countries qualify to submit complaints, based on whether those countries provide reciprocal privacy safeguards. The PCLOB is encouraged to conduct annual oversight reviews, and agency heads must respond to its recommendations within 180 days. The Secretary of Commerce maintains complaint records and checks declassification status at least every five years.
Actions and deadlines
- Establish a process for foreign nationals to submit qualifying complaints about U.S. signals intelligence activities
- Promulgate regulations establishing the Data Protection Review Court, including judge appointment procedures and special-advocate rules
- Update agency policies and procedures to implement the privacy and civil liberties safeguards in this order
- Release updated signals intelligence policies and procedures publicly to the maximum extent possible
- Consider and implement or otherwise address all PCLOB review recommendations regarding updated policies
- Consider and implement or otherwise address all PCLOB annual report recommendations on the redress mechanism
- Secretary of Commerce to contact Intelligence Community elements about declassification of complaint-review records