U.S. Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency, has said a national dialogue is needed to determine whether the government should have access to digital communications to support signals intelligence activities against terrorism, DoD News reported Saturday.
Rogers told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado he observed technology is accelerating the rate of change in signals intelligence and has placed various areas of communications outside the legal boundaries of government intelligence officers.
“Traditionally, within our legal construct there has been mechanism for the government to access communications with an appropriate court order,” said Rogers, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2017.
“Our challenge as a nation is we are now in a position in the digital age where technology has outstripped our legal framework.”
Rogers said citizens must discuss the level of risk and access the government should have; circumstances that call for the use of digital communications for signals intelligence; and the oversight of such activities.
