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TOP SECRET/ /COMINT/ /NOFO IINN T I O N L S E C U R I T Y G E N C Y

C E N T R L S E C U R I T Y S E R V I C E

F O R T G E O R G E G . M E A D E M A R Y L A N D 2 0 7 3 S

A P R 1 2 9

MEMOR ANDUM F OR MAJ OR ITY S TAF F DIR EC TOR , S ENATES E L E C T C O M M I T T E E O N I N T E L L I G E N C E

SU BJE CT : (U) Congress iona l No t if i ca tion - INFORM ATIONM E M O R A N D U M

(TS//SI/ /NF) I am pleased to report to the Commit tee the s ignif icantprogress made to date to resolve the Business Records (BR) mat ter , top rov ide add i t iona l in fo rmat ion to the Com mit tee on o ther m at te rs tha t havebeen addressed previously to the Commit tee and to not i fy the Commit tee ofone addi t ional mat ter which was only recent ly ident i f ied . NSA is commit tedto work each mat ter to a resolu t ion that is consis tent wi th ForeignIntel l igence Survei l lance Court (FISC) orders and our obl igat ion to conductour opera t ions with due regard to Un i ted Sta tes Pers ons ' pr ivacy. I t i s a lsoNSA's commitmen t to make our efforts t ransparen t to the Commit tee byproviding updates of s ignif icant developments .

I. (TS/ /SI / /NF) C o m p l i a n c e w i t h t h e F o r e i g n I n t e l l i g e n c e S u r v e i l l a n c eC o u r t s B u s i n e s s R e c o r d s a n d P e n R e g i s t e r / T r a p a n d T r a c e O r d e r s :

(TS//S1//NF) NSA not i f ied the Com mit tee on Febr ua ry 25 , 2009 of acomp liance issue with the imp lem enta t ion of the FISC authorize d Bu sine ssRecords (BR) Or der . The issue of non-compliance wa s orig inal ly ident i f ied byDo J in m id- Ja nu ar y and reporte d to the FISC. In h is Fe bru ary 13declarat ion to the Court , the Director of NSA commit ted to conduct ing end-to-end review s of NSA 's imp lem entat io n of both the BR and Pe n Re gis ter /T rapand Trace (PR/TT) Court Orders .

(TS/ /SI/ /NF) NSA has aggress ively taken a ct ions to correct theproblems noted with BR FISA order compliance, avoid a reoccurrence, andens ure fu t ur e compliance. A 60-day end-to-end sys tem engin eerin g andprocess review, a review of oversight and compliance training for allpersonnel who access both BR and PR/TT FISA metadata , and a redesign ofth e au tom ate d a ler t process for fo llow-on sys tem s are being workedsimultaneously . The end-to-end reviews involve a complex invest igat ion of a tleas t e ight major sys tem components and over 240 subcomponents , serv ingmu lt ip le funct io ns and users . Ou r review of the se sys tems and c om pone ntshas , to date , surfa ced only the fo llowing issues noted in th is upd ate .

U) Current operating capability/functionalitya m s u m m On Febru ary 20 NSA implemen ted a change in so f tware

th a t shu t o ff a l l au to ma ted access ing of m eta da ta acqu i red pu rsu an t to bo thTOP SECRET/ /COM1NT/ /NOFORN



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BR and PR/TT FISC orders . NSA accepted that th is would d isrupt processesthat had no ident i f ied compliance concerns , to include those support ingmateria l acquired under the PR/TT FISA Court Order; however, NSA decidedth a t h a l t in g au tom ated access to the BR and PR/TT me tad a ta to be the mos tprudent course of act ion .

1. U//FOUO) BR Operations/Mitigation(TS//SI//NF) Since the March 5 , 2009 FISA Court order , the Court ' s

approval has been required for each selector before i t is tasked for BR FISAm e t ad a t a an a l y s is . On M a r c l ^ ^ ^ ^ S ^ j e s ^ i e i ^ i i a n u a l access to BR FISAmetada ta , a l lowing c h a i n i n g ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ J o f FISA Cour t -approved

selectors associated withI fo llowing mu lt ip le operat ional an d technica l review st c ^ n s u r ^ o m p h a n c e ^ W h i l e no deficiencies in analys t t ra in ing had beennoted , NSA ha s tak en th e extr a precaut ion of providing a ddi t iona lcompliance t ra in ing and tes t ing to a l l analys ts access ing the BR FISAmetadata prior to being approved for access .

(TS/ /SI/ /NF) NSA has taken s teps to minimize the impact ofsusp end ing the BR autom ated t ipp ing (or a ler t ) processes . A l imited nu m be rof NSA ana ly s t s a re now per fo rming manua l quer ies aga ins t 209 FISA Cour t -approve

2. U//FOUO) BR end-to-end review(TS//S1 IMF NSA sys tems eng ineers have made sub s tan t ia l p rogress

on the end-to-end review of the s ys tem s and an aly t ic tools associated w ith BRFISA m eta da t a . NSA eng ineers have rev iewed more tha n 100 requ i r em en tsdocumen ts , da ta f low d iag rams and sys tem documen ta t ion reco rds and a rees ta bl ish ing a comp rehensive p lan to res tore capabi l i t ies . In concert w i th theengineering review, NSA's Office of Overs ight and Compliance has completedapp roxim ately h alf of the 15 neces sary aud i ts of the BR FISA m et ad at a

queries . So far these audi ts have revealed inappropriate queries by twoan aly s ts of foreign te lephone selectors . These v io lations were repor ted to t heFISC in the Director 's 25 February 2009 Supplemental Declarat ion , whichthe Com mi t tee previously received. In addi t ion , several of the audi ts hav eident i f ied poss ib le compliance issues that require further invest igat ion .

3.review

U//FQUO) Additional BR matters identified or undergoing

(TS//ST//NF) As a resu l t of authoriz ed an alys is , and a s previouslyreported to the Court , 275 reports contain ing 2 ,476 te lephonenumbers were d isseminated to the FBI and CIA. While th is

d i s semina t ion was au thor ized , and the numbers were l eg i t imate lyde te rm ined to be assoc ia ted wi th in te rna t ion a l t e r ro r i sm , they w erealso added prematurely to a l is t cal led the tation Table, a list

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designed to s tore numbers determined by NSA to meet the

rea sona ble ar t iculab le suspicion s ta nd ard RAS-approved . Theproblem ident i f ied is that these numbers d id not undergo theformal NSA Office of Gen eral C ounsel RAS -designat ion review asreq uire d by the Court pr ior to being added to the Stat ion Table .

* (TS//SI/ /NF) NSA cont inues to review whether addi t ionalau tom ated too l s may have quer ied the bus iness reco rds m eta da t a .

• (TS//SI/ /NF) NSA is reviewing i ts appl icat ion of the 5- year da tareten t ion l im itat ion provis ion of the FIS C order .

4. UUEOUOX Status of BR training

(T3//S1//NF) NSA formed a team in early February to address both theimm edia te and long- term t ra in in g requ i red fo r ana ly s t s access ing m eta da taacquired through BR FISA and PR/TT FISA. The team in i t ia ted a redesignof the Agency 's BR FISA train ing and has adminis tered BR FISA oralcompetency tes ts . Tr ain in g for PR/TT FISA wil l involve a new curr ic ulumand c om peten cy exam and is projected to be available by J u n e 1, 2009.

(T0/ /0I/ /NF) NSA is a l so upda t ing i ts BR FISA Standa rd Op era t ingPro cedu res (SOP) docum ent . An in ter im vers ion of the new SOP deta i ls theprocesses and proc edure s governing access to BR FISA m eta da ta . Thein ter im SOP also describes the overal l process to ensure consis tency with the

FIS C orde r . The SO P will be revised as necessary a s addi t ional analy t ic toolsa re re ins ta ted and au tomated p rocesses a re resumed fo l lowing FISCapproval .

5. U//EQUQ) Status ofPR/TT Operations and Review(TS//ST//NF) NSA is a lso seeking DoJ approval to react ivate automated

que ryin g of th e PR/TT m eta da ta af te r conduct ing a sys tem level review of thePR/TT al er t in g sys tem to ensu re compliance. Of note , no compliance issu eswe re found in NSA 's use of PR/TT m eta da ta . NSA uses PR/TT me ta da ta tochain acro ss d ig i ta l netw ork selectors . How ever, as a res ul t of the Co urt ' sorder , DoJ approval is required to react ivate any of the automated PR/TT

processes tha t NSA volun tari ly shut down. N SA ant ic ipate s receiv ingapproval to resume the automated PR/TT aler t ing process soon. In thein ter im, as with BR FISA, NSA has taken s teps to minimize the impact ofsuspending the PR/TT automated t ipping process by ensuring the h ighestpriori ty selectors undergo manual chain ing.

(TS//3I/ /NF) On March 31, 2009 DoJ lawyers v is i ted NSA inpre pa rat ion for DoJ 's f i rs t spot check of the PR/TT FISA process incompliance with the FISA Cou rt 's M arch 5, 2009 Ord er . NSA de m ons trat edthe analy t ic tools used by analys ts and provided a brief ing on NSA's progressin condu ct ing the end-to-end sys tem engineering and process reviews. NSA

also described how i t adminis ters overs ight and compliance of the PR/TTm et ad at a f lows. DoJ ident i f ied no new issues dur ing gene ral d iscuss ion . Do J

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is sch edu led to visit in late April for the ir first form al spot check on PR/TT

FISA as well as a routine review of BR FISA.

(TS//SI/ /NF) The end-to-end review of the PR/TT systems andprocesses is underway and will be concluded upon completion of the BR FISAreview.

v e r c o l l e c t i o nI . (U / / F OUO)(S//SI//NF) This is to update the Commit tee on the mat ter of NSA's

inciden tal acq uis i t ion of da ta du ring the course of FISA Am en dm en ts Act

These incidents are described as ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ O v e r c o l l e c t i o n ).Th e Co mm it tee previously received inform at ion on th is m at te r on M arch 5 ,2009, in the Se m ian nu al Report of the De pa rtm en t of Jus t ice Con cerningAcquis i t ions Under Sect ion 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008,pre par ed by the Dep ar tm en t of Jus t ice , and covering the period fromSeptember 4 , 2008 through November 30 , 2008 and on March 17, 2009, in theSe mi ann ua l A ssessmen t of Compl iance Wi th FISA Am endm ents ActProcedures and Guidel ines , prepared by the Attorney General and theDirector of Nat ional In tel l igence, covering the same t ime frame The repor t sa l so s ta ted t h a t ^ J ) had been reported to the Foreign In tel l igenceSurvei l lance Court (FISC).

(S//SI//NF) NSA supp lem en ts those repor t s by add ing tha t | o wa s anissue considered by the Cou r t during i ts review of the t h i rd FAA C ert i f icat ionth a t the Attorney Ge neral an d the Director of Na t ional In tel l igence h aveau thor ize d , Cer t i f i ca tion

I which wa s f iled with th e Court on Jan ua ry 12, 2009.D urin g the Co urt ' s considerat ion of th at cert i f icat ion , the FISC asked for andreceived sup ple me ntal f i l ings wh erein NSA described the causes for and th eef fo r t s to mi t iga te aga in s t

(U/ /FQUQ) These mi t iga t ion efforts involve cont inuo us processimprovements to prevent and/or detect overcol lect ion at the earl ies t poss ib lepoint and th e appl icat ion of our target i ng and min imiza t ion proced uresregarding ins tances of overcol lect ion , which include appris ing ODNI andDOJ in a t imely fashion whenever such incidents may occur in the fu ture .N SA ad d re s s ed the concerns expressed and the quest ions raised by the FISCc o n c e r n i n g ^ ^ ) .

(S//ST/ANF) On April 7, 2009, the FISC approved Certification

In accordance wi th the repor t ing requ i r em en ts o f the FISA Am end me nts Act ,th e gov ernm ent wil l provide the Com mit tee copies of the C ourt ' s Opinion and

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Order, as wel l as of the government 's appl icat ion and p leadings in them at te r , to include the supplem enta l f i l ings referen ced above.

III. ( U / / F Ö W ) D I A J o i n t I n t e l l i g e n c e T a s k F o r c e - C o m b a t i n gT e r r o r i s m ( J I T F - C T ) A c c e s s t o C o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m - r e l a t e d S I G I N TI n f o r m a t i o n

(U) This mat ter was f i rs t brought to the Commit tee 's a t tent ion by wayof oral notification on March 31, 2009 to Committee staff directors with anunders tanding that th is wri t ten not i f icat ion would fo l low.

program which al lowed the DIA's Jo in t In tel l igence Task Force - Combat ingTerro r i sm (J ITF-CT) access to coun te r te r ro r i sm-re la ted SIGINT in fo rmat ion ,inc lud ing S I G I N T ^ o l l e c t e ^ u r s u a n t to the Foreign In tel l igence Surv ei l lanceCour t ' s ( F I S C ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H . Access to th is FISA da ta w as t ight lycon t ro l led and was l imi ted to J ITF-C T an a lys t s who had undergone t ra in ingon the appl icat ion of NSA minim izat ion procedu res to the FISA d at a an d w howe re subject to NSA overs ight of the ir act iv i t ies . Moreover, the se p ersonn elwere required to coordinate with NSA regarding d isseminat ion ofthe informat ion outs ide of J ITF-CT.

(U/ /FQUQ) At the t ime the p i lo t program was created , NSAdetermined that , once JITF-CT analys ts were detai led to NSA they could beconsidered NSA employees pu rsu an t to the FISC order for the purpo ses ofthe ir access to the FISA da ta . U nde r NSA's analys is , a l though not r epo rt ingto an NSA management chain , once detai led to NSA, they were neverthelessoperat ing under NSA contro l ( t ra in ing , overs ight , accountabi l i ty) whenaccess ing the FISA data .

(TS/ /SI/ /NF) In 2008, NSA's Overs ight and Compliance office wascondu ct ing a review of dat ab ase access to unm inim ized SIG INT . As a res ul t ,

a da ta ba se know n as found to lack suff ic ient contro ls overan aly s t access to da ta . As a correct ive me asur e, the dat aba se w asreco nfigur ed , shu t t ing it down and bringing i t back up undercomprehens ive con t ro l s . Th is was the da tabase tha t J ITF-CT ana lys t s u sedto access the FISA data

and t he se action s led to th e loss of the ir access. Th e NSA Office

of General Counsel then reconsidered the bas is for i ts or ig inal concurrence onal lowing JITF-CT analys ts access to the FISA data .

(C//SI//NF) The NSA Office of Ge neral Co unsel had que st ionsconcern ing wh ethe r the c i rcumstances o f J ITF-CT ana lys t s de ta i l

sup port ed the conclus ion th at they were NSA employees as orig inal lydeterm ined. The facts and ci rcumstances were reported to DoJ. Uponreviewing these facts , DoJ reported the mat ter to the FISC as a poss ib le

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com pliance incident . NSA and DoJ cont inue to work to brin g the m at te r to

conclus ion with the FISC . Un t i l th is ma t te r is resolved, NSA wil l notre in s ta te J IT F-C T access to th i s FISA da ta .

(C//SI//NF) <

¡ there i s no way to de te rmine wh ethe r ,in fact , J IT F-C T ana lys t s accessed i t wi th out authoriz at ion . How ever, even ifsuch access occurred , the analys ts were t ra ined in rout ine minimizat ionprocedures and were required to coordinate with NSAreg ard ing d is sem inat ion of inform at ion outs ide of J ITF -CT ; th us i t i s unl ikelytha t Un i ted S ta tes Persons ' iden t i t i es were d i s semina ted improper ly .

IV . (S//ST//NF) S u s p e n s i o n o f MU n m i n i m i z e d S I G I N T C o l l e c t i o n

(3 / /SI/ /NF) This is the f i rs t repwhich concerns a decis ion to suspendcalled X-KEYSCORE (XKS).

| t o

i t tee on th is mat ter ,ccess to an NSA system

¡wedacce ss to a p ar t o . 's collection architecture

relat ing to SIGINT col lected under the authori ty o y j ^ g n y r i w ^ H p ^ y s s a

:-KEY S CO RE (XKS).

, th is access is predicate d on the princip le th atcol laborat ion agains t counter- terrorism is essent ia l to d iscover and pre-emptte r ro r i s t ac t s

Jn review ol this access Nfc>A is considering whether a l lowing th is| access to unm inimiz ed SIG INT collect ion fu l ly complies w ith

NSA procedures . The review is considering whether addi t ional automatedand/or m an ua l proced ures should be in p lace with prior tores toring their access to th is s t ream of SIGINT.

(U) NSA is cont inuing to review the facts and ci rcumstancesc o n c e r n m ^ i i s mat ter . Should you have any quest ions , p lease contact me at

La Forres t Wil l iamsDepu ty Associate Director of Legis lat ive Aff airs

Copy Furn i shed :Minority Staff Director, Senate

Select Commit tee on In tel l igence
