US communications privacy concerns will outlast Obama

Subject

US interagency procedures for sharing signals intelligence.

Significance

The administration of President Barack Obama is in the final stages of issuing new rules governing the sharing of signals intelligence (SIGINT) among federal agencies involved in national security. These rules, which the intelligence community has long expected, would clarify how the federal government may share communications-based intelligence, such as wiretaps and intercepts, among diverse agencies, and -- critically -- set boundaries on the use of such intelligence by agencies that did not originally collect it.

Impacts

• The next administration -- whether Republican or Democratic -- will probably be less responsive to privacy groups in this area.
• The Obama administration's focus on executive orders governing emerging technologies has set precedent but offers few lasting restrictions.
• Privacy issues will hinder US international trade negotiations, further derailing TTIP talks for the foreseeable future.