Public forum to Examine the USA Freedom Act, Telephone Records Program

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release May 14, 2019

PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES OVERSIGHT BOARD TO HOLD PUBLIC FORUM TO EXAMINE THE USA FREEDOM ACT, TELEPHONE RECORDS PROGRAM

**Public Forum Scheduled for May 31, 2019 in Washington, DC**

WASHINGTON, DC – Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Chairman Adam Klein and Board Members Edward Felten and Jane Nitze have announced a May 31, 2019 public forum in Washington, DC to examine the USA FREEDOM Act and the government’s call detail records (CDR) program under that law. Several key provisions of the USA FREEDOM Act will sunset in December unless they are reauthorized by Congress.

The upcoming public forum will provide an opportunity for the Board to hear a range of expert views on the USA Freedom Act—from its history and implementation, to present challenges and the path ahead. The USA FREEDOM Act modified the program previously operated under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which was analyzed in a 2014 report by the Board. The upcoming public forum is part of the Board’s continuing oversight of this program.

Details of the public forum are as follows:

Date: Friday, May 31, 2019
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Location:
Ronald Reagan Building, Horizon Room
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20004

Scheduled expert panelists include:

•Jamil N. Jaffer, Founder and Director of the National Security Institute and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School and George Mason University;
•Susan Landau, Bridge Professor of Cyber Security and Policy in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the School of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Tufts University;
•Jonathan Mayer, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University;
•Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute;
•Caroline Lynch, Founder and Owner of Copper Hill Strategies, former Chief Counsel of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations;
•Michael Bahar, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland’s Global Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice, Former Minority Staff Director and General Counsel for the US House Intelligence Committee.