An intelligence community transparency report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence showed an increase in the number of U.S. person query terms used by the National Security Agency, the CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center in 2024, resulting from cybersecurity and international terrorist threats.
According to the report published on Monday, the higher query numbers were partly due to cyberthreats to U.S. infrastructure; the Israel-Hamas conflict; and threats related to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, including from eight foreign nationals from Tajikistan, an Afghan national in Oklahoma and more than 400 Central Asian migrants with links to an ISIS network.
FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill
The 12th Annual Statistical Transparency Report was released consistent with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. It covers the timeframe under the Biden administration, during which the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, or RISAA, was signed into law.
RISAA extended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for two additional years and prohibited the FBI from conducting Evidence of a Crime Only queries into FISA Section 702 data, decreasing the number of U.S. person queries reported by the agency.
The public release of the report, which paired statistics with explanatory narratives, is expected to enhance public understanding of intelligence activities.
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