Document re: Section 702 2023 Certification Authorized for public release by ODNI

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(U) EXHIBIT B
202.. .,.) Ii·L',... ")~\ I .J.., II~i
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(U) MINIMIZATION PROCEDURES USED BY THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY IN CONNECTION WITH ACQUISITIONS OF FOREIGN .: . :. . : !
INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 702-0F-Tifff LC~:.~T
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978, AS AMENDED

(U) Section 1 - Applicability and Scope

(U) These National Security Agency (NSA) minimization procedures apply to the
acquisition, retention, use, and dissemination of information, including non-publicly
available information concerning unconsenting United States persons, that is acquired by
targeting non-United States persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United
States in accordance with section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978,
as amended (FISA or "the Act"). These minimization procedures apply in addition to
separate querying procedures adopted pursuant to subsection 702(f)(l) of the Act. These
minimization procedures should be read and applied in conjunction with those querying
procedures, and nothing in these procedures permits any actions that would otherwise be
prohibited by those querying procedures.

(U) IfNSA determines that it must take action in apparent departure from these
minimization procedures to protect against an immediate threat to human life (e.g., force
protection or hostage situations) and that it is not feasible to obtain a timely modification of
these procedures, NSA may take such action immediately. NSA will report the action taken
to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and to the National Security
Division of the Department of Justice (NSD), which will promptly notify the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) of such activity.

(U) For the purposes of these procedures, the terms "National Security Agency" and "NSA
personnel" refer to any employees of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service
("NSA/CSS" or "NSA") and any other personnel engaged in Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)
operations authorized pursuant to section 702 of the Act if such operations are executed
under the direction, authority, or control of the Director, NSA/Chief, CSS (DIRNSA).

(U) Section 2 - Exceptions, Oversight, and Training

(a) (U) NSA will conduct oversight (to include compliance) activities on an ongoing basis,
with respect to its exercise of the authority under section 702 of the Act, including the
targeting, minimization, and querying procedures adopted in accordance with section
702. NSA will develop and deliver training regarding the applicable procedures to ensure
NSA personnel responsible for approving the targeting of persons for acquisition under
section 702, as well as NSA personnel with access to information thereby acquired,
understand their responsibilities and the applicable procedures that apply to this
acquisition. NSA will make any necessary reports, including those relating to incidents

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of noncompl iance, to the NSA Inspector General and NSA Office of General Counsel, in
accordance with its NSA charter. NSA will also ensure that necessary corrective actions
are taken to address any identified deficiencies.

(b) (U) Nothing in these procedures shall restrict:

( l) (U) the performance of lawful oversight functions of NSD or ODNI, or the applicable
Offices of the Inspectors General, or the provision by NSA of the assistance
necessary for these entities to perform their lawful oversight functions;

(2) (U) activities necessary to create, test, or conduct technical maintenance ofNSA
systems that process or store section 702-acquired information;

(3) (U) the retention, processing, analysis, or dissemination of information necessary to

comply with an order of a court within the United States or a specific congressional
mandate, such as a subpoena or similar process consistent with congressional
oversight;

(4) (U) NSA' s ability to conduct vulnerability or network assessments using information
acquired pursuant to section 702 in order to ensure that NSA systems are not or have
not been compromised. Notwithstanding any other section in these procedures,
information used by NSA to conduct vulnerability or network assessments may be
retained for one year solely for that limited purpose. Any information retained for
this purpose may be disseminated only in accordance with the applicable provisions
of these procedures;

(5) (U) activities necessary to perform the following lawful oversight functions ofNSA' s
personnel or systems:
a. (U) investigate and remediate possible section 702 compliance incidents;
b. (U) identify section 702-acquired information subject to destruction,
including under these minimization procedures; or
c. (U) review, approve, or audit queries of section 702-acquired information.

(U) Should NSA determine it is necessary to deviate from an aspect of these

procedures to perform lawful oversight functions of its personnel or systems apart
from those described in this subsection (2.b.5), NSA shall consult with NSD and
ODNI prior to conducting such an activity. NSD shall promptly report the deviation
to the FISC. Each such report shall describe the nature of the deviation from the
. procedures and identify the specific oversight activity for which the deviation was
necessary. Once section 702-acquired information is no longer reasonably believed
to be necessary for a lawful oversight function, the information shall be destroyed to
the extent required by the applicable provisions of these procedures.

(c) (U) NSA has established internal procedures for ensuring that raw traffic is labeled and
stored only in authorized repositories, and is accessible only to those who have had the
proper training. NSA personnel who are undergoing, but have not yet completed,

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training regarding the proper implementation of section 702 and NSA' s section 702
procedures may have access to raw section 702-acquired information during the conduct
of such training and insofar as reasonably necessary to be effective.

(U) Whenever relying on any portion of the exceptions in this or the preceding subsection
(2.b or 2.c) to deviate from any other provision of these minimization procedures, NSA
personnel shall limit the scope of their deviation and comport with all other provisions of
these minimization procedures [Link] maximum extent practicable.

(0 ) Section 3 - Definitions

(U) In addition to the definitions in sections 101 and 701 of the Act, the following
definitions will apply to these procedures:

(a) (l!,;(INf) Acquisition means the collection by NSA or the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) through el . I I 11·,1 I • I l l I I 11111 I • II I which it is not an

intended party o

(b) (U) Communications concerning a United States person include all communications in
which a United States person is discussed or mentioned, except where such
communications reveal only publicly available information about the person.

(c) (U) Communications of a United States person include all communications to which a
United States person is a party.

(e) (U) Consent is the agreement by a person or organization to permit the NSA to take
particular actions that affect the person or organization. To be effective, consent must be
given by the affected person or organization with sufficient knowledge to understand the
action that may be taken. Consent by an organization will be deemed valid if given on
behalf of the organization by an official or governing body determined by the General
Counsel, NSA, to have actual or apparent authority to make such an agreement.

(f) (U) Foreign communication means a communication that has at least one communicant
outside of the United States. All other communications, including communications in
which the sender and all intended recipients are reasonably believed to be located in the
United States at the time of acquisition, are domestic communications.

(g) (U) Identification of a United States person means (1) the name, unique title, or address
of a United States person; or (2) other personal identifiers of a United States person when
appearing in the context of activities conducted by that person or activities conducted by

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others that are related to that person. A reference to a product by brand name, or
manufacturer's name or the use of a name in a descriptive sense, e.g., "Monroe Doctrine,"
is not an identification of a United States person.

(I.) (I bl! SL ll h J Internet transaction, for purposes of these procedures, means an Internet
communication that is acquired through NSA's upstream collection techniques. An
Internet transaction may contain information or data representing either a discr
communication e. . an e-mail messa e or multi le discrete communications

(i) (U) Process or processing means any action necessary to convert unminimized section
702-acquired information into an intelligible form or any machine-initiated action
designed to identify, curate, label, or organize such information; provided, however, that
the term "process" or "processing" does not include an action that: ( 1) presents
· information for human inspection; or (2) using means that do not involve human
inspection, produces and makes affii:mative use of information for investigative,
intelligence analysis, or preventative purposes.

(j) (U) Publicly available information means information that a member of the public could
obtain on request, by research in public sources, or by casual observation.

(k) (U) United States person means a United States person as defined in the Act. The
following guidelines apply in determining whether a person whose status is unknown is a
United States person:

(1) (U) A person known to be currently in the United States will be treated as a United
States person unless positively identified as an alien who has not been admitted for
permanent residence or circumstances give rise to a reasonable belief that such person
is not a United States person.

(2) (U) A person known to be currently outside the United States, or whose location is
unknown, will not be treated as a United States person unless such person can be
positively identified as such or circumstances give rise to a reasonable belief that such
person is a United States person.

(3) (U) A person known to have been at any time an alien admitted for lawful permanent
residence is treated as a United States person, unless a determination that such person
is no longer a United States person is made (a) in consultation with the NSA Office of
General Counsel after obtaining a copy of either an order revoking that person's
United States person status issued by a U.S. federal court or a properly executed and
filed United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Form 1-407 (Record of
Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status), or (b) in consultation with the
NSA Office of General Counsel and NSD.

(4) (U) An unincorporated association whose headquarters or primary office is located

outside the United States is presumed not to be a United States person unless there is

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information indicating that a substantial number of its members are citizens of the
United States or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

(U) Section 4 - Acquisition and Handling - General

(a) (U) Acquisition

(U) The acquisition of information by targeting non-United States persons reasonably

believed to be located outside the United States pursuant to section 702 of the Act will be
effected in accordance with an authorization made by the Attorney General and Director of
National Intelligence pursuant to subsection 702(a) of the Act and will be conducted in a
manner designed, to the greatest extent reasonably feasible, to minimize the acquisition of
information not relevant to the authorized purpose of the acquisition.

(b) (U) Monitoring, Recording, and Handling

(1) (U) Personnel will exercise reasonable judgment in determining whether information
acquired must be minimized and will destroy information of or concerning a United
States person at the earliest practicable point at which such information can be
identified either: as clearly not relevant to the authorized purpose of the acquisition
(e.g., the communication does not contain foreign intelligence information); or, as not
containing evidence of a crime which may be disseminated under these procedures.
Except as provided for in Section 4(c) below, such information of or concerning a
United States person may be retained no longer than five years from the expiration
date of the certification authorizing the collection in any event.

(2) (U) Information of or concerning United States persons that may be related to the
authorized purpose of the acquisition may be forwarded to analytic personnel
responsible for producing intelligence information from the collected data. Such
information may be retained and disseminated only in accordance with Sections 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, and 11 of these procedures.

(3) (U) For purposes of assessing how information should be handled in accordance with
these procedures, as information is reviewed, NSA analyst(s) will a) determine
whether it is a domestic or foreign communication; 1 b) ensure that it is not a
communication that contains a reference to, but is not to or from, a target; and c)
determine whether it is reasonably believed to contain foreign intelligence
information or evidence of a crime.

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(4) (U) Queries of unminimized content or noncontent information acquired in

accordance with section 702 of the Act are governed by the Querying Procedures
Used in Connection with Acquisitions of Foreign Intelligence Information Pursuant to
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as Amended. All
such queries conducted by NSA personnel must be made in accordance with those
procedures. Authorized NSA users with access to unminimized section 702-acquired
information should handle the results of an appropriate query of unminimized section
702-acquired information in accordance with these minimization procedures.

(U) Further handling, retention, and dissemination of foreign communications will be

made in accordance with Sections 4, 5, 7, 8, and 11, as applicable, below. Further
handling, storage, and dissemination of inadvertently acquired domestic
communications will be made in accordance with Sections 4, 5, 6, and 8 below.

(c) (U) Destruction of Raw Data

(1) 6IS((§U'Nf) Information acquired through tasking Internet selectors by or with the
assistance of the FBI from Internet Service Providers, through tasking telephony
selectors, or throug~ hat does not meet the retention standards set
forth in these procedures and that is known to contain information of or concerning
United States persons will be destroyed upon recognition. Information acquired
through tasking Internet selectors by or with the assistance of the FBI from Internet
Service Providers, through tasking telephony selectors, or throug
may not be retained longer than five years from the expiration date o the certi 1cation
authorizing the collection unless NSA specifically determines that each specific item
of acquired information meets the retention standards in these procedures.

(2) (U) Internet transactions acquired on or before March 17, 2017, will be destroyed
upon recognition. Internet transactions acquired through NSA's upstream collection
techniques acquired on or after March 18, 2017, that do not contain any information
that meets the retention standards set forth in these procedures and that are known to
contain communications of or concerning United States persons will be destroyed
upon recognition. An Internet transaction acquired on or after March 18,2017, may
not be retained longer than five years from the expiration date of the certification
authorizing the collection unless NSA specifically determines that at least one
discrete communication within the Internet transaction meets the retention standards
in these procedures.

(3) (U) Any communications acquired pursuant to section 702 that contain a reference
to, but are not to or from, a person targeted in accordance with section 702 targeting
procedures are unauthorized acquisitions and therefore will be destroyed upon
recognition. 2

2
(U) In applying this provision, note that any user of a tasked selector is regarded as a person targeted for
acquisition.

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(4) (U) In addition, NSA will follow the following procedures:

a. (U) Notwithstanding the destruction requirements set forth in these minimization

procedures, NSA may retain specific section 702-acquired information if the
Department of Justice advises NSA in writing that such information is subject to a
preservation obligation in pending or anticipated administrative, civil, or criminal
litigation. The Department of Justice will identify in writing the specific
information to be retained (including, but not limited to, the target(s) or selector(s)
whose information must be preserved and the relevant time period at issue in the
litigation), and the particular litigation for which the information will be retained.
In order to restrict access to information being retained pursuant to this provision,
personnel not working on the particular litigation matter shall not access the
section 702-acquired information preserved pursuant to a written preservation
notice from the Department of Justice that would otherwise have been destroyed
pursuant to these procedures. Other personnel shall only access the information
being retained for litigation-related reasons on a case-by-case basis after
consultation with the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice shall
notify NSA in writing once the section 702-acquired information is no longer
r~quired to be preserved for such litigation matters, and then NSA shall promptly
destroy the section 702-acquired information as otherwise required by these
procedures.

I. (U) Each year, NSA and NSD will prepare a summary of: (a) all
administrative, civil, or criminal litigation matters necessitating preservation
of section 702-acquired data that would otherwise be subject to age off
pursuant to these procedures, (b) a description of the section 702-acquired
information preserved for each such litigation matter, and ( c) if possible based
on the information available to NSA, a description of the status of each such
litigation matter.

2. (U) In certain circumstances, NSA may receive written notice from the
Department of Justice advising NSA to preserve section 702-acquired
information that would otherwise be subject to a destruction requirement
under Sections 4(b)(l), 4(d)(2), 4(e), 5, or 6. NSA will promptly
provide NSD with a summary of: (a) all administrative, civil, or criminal
litigation matters necessitating preservation of section 702-acquired
information that would otherwise be subject to destruction pursuant to
Sections 4(b)( 1), 4(d)(2), 4(e ), 5, or 6, (b) a description of the section 702-
acquired information preserved for each such litigation matter, and (c) if
possible based on the information available to NSA, a description of the status
of each such litigation matter. When such circumstances arise, NSD will
promptly notify the FISC.

b. (U) The Department of Justice may advise NSA to retain specific section 702-
acquired information subject to a destruction requirement other than those
specified above in this section because such information is subject to a

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preservation obligation in pending or anticipated administrative, civil, or criminal

litigation. NSA will provide NSD with a summary of: (a) all administrative, civil,
or criminal litigation matters necessitating preservation of section 702-acquired
information that would otherwise be subject to destruction, (b) a description of the
section 702-acquired information preserved for each such litigation matter, and
(c) if possible, based on the information available to NSA, a description of the
status of each such litigation matter. NSD will promptly notify and subsequently
seek authorization from the FISC to retain the material as appropriate and
consistent with law. NSA will restrict access to and retain such information in the
manner described in Section 4(c)(4)(a), at the direction of the Department of
Justice until either the FISC denies a government request for authorization to
retain the information or the Department of Justice notifies NSA in writing that
the information is no longer required to be preserved for such litigation matters.
After receiving such notice, NSA shall promptly destroy the section 702-acquired
information.

(d) (U) Change in Target's Location or Status

(I) (U) In the event that NSA reasonably believes that a target is located outside the
United States and subsequently learns that the person is inside the United States, or if
NSA concludes that a target who at the time of targeting was believed to be a non-
United States person is in fact a United States person at the time of acquisition, the
acquisition from that person will be terminated without delay.

(2) (U) Any information acquired through the targeting of a person who at the time of
targeting was reasonably believed to be located outside the United States but is in fact
located inside the United States at the time such information was acquired, and any
information acquired by targeting a person who at the time of targeting was believed
to be a non-United States person but was in fact a United States person at the time
such information was acquired, will be treated as domestic communications under
these procedures.

(e) (B:':'t JP) In the event that NSA seeks to use any information acquired pursuant to section
702 during a time perio e is uncertainty about the location of the target of the
acquisition because the ost-tasking checks described in NSA's section 702
targeting procedures w oning properly, NSA will follow its internal
procedures for determining whether such information may be used (including, but not
limited to, in FISA applications, section 702 targeting, and disseminations). Except as
necessary to assess location under this provision, NSA may not use or disclose any
information acquired pursuant to section 702 during such time period unless NSA
determines, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the target is reasonably
believed to have been located outside the United States at the time the information was
acquired. If NSA determines that the target is reasonably believed to have been located
inside the United States at the time the information was acquired, such information will
not be used and will be promptly destroyed.

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(f) (U) Additional Measures Regarding the Handling and Disposition of Improper Taskings

(1 ~ (SL GS 3) ILD shall promptly review the documentation from NSA of the basis for
tasking selectors to section 702 acquisition. NSA shall cooperate in that effort. In the
event such review leads NSD to assess that the basis for tasking any selector may be
insufficient for targeting under a certification or authorization approved under section
702, or otherwise may not be in accordance with NSA's section 702 targeting
procedures at the time of tasking, NSD will promptly provide NSA and ODNI with
written notification of that assessment.

(2) (U,':'FOUO~ Upon receipt of such assessment by NSD, NSA shall promptly, and not
later than 10 business days, initiate the steps required to (1) identify all information
acquired from the tasking of that selector and reporting of such information and (2)
place the identifiers for that information on the Master Purge List (MPL) or successor
system as they are identified to limit further use or dissemination of that information.
NSA shall promptly, and not later than 90 calendar days after written notification,
complete the steps required to identify and limit the use of all information acquired
from the tasking. In the event that NSA is unable to complete these activities within
the time periods specified in this paragraph, NSA will promptly report the reasons it
is unable to do so to NSD and ODNI, and NSD will promptly notify the FISC in
writing.

(3) (1 J Once written notification has been made under Section 4(f)(l), NSD and
ODNI shall make a final determination regarding the propriety of the tasking as
expeditiously as practical. NSA shall cooperate in that effort. NSD shall promptly
submit a written report to the FISC describing the circumstances for which a final
determination has not been made within 60 calendar days of the written notification
under Section 4(f)(l).

(4) (U 11FQYQ1 Upon written notification of a final determination by NSD and ODNI
that the tasking of such selector was not proper under section 702 at the time of
tasking, and following the completion of the steps required to identify and limit the
use of all information acquired from the tasking as described in Section 4(f)(2), NSA
shall promptly, and not later than 30 calendar days, complete the steps required for
destroying all information acquired from the tasking of such selector and revise or
recall relevant disseminations containing that information, informing the recipients of
any recalled dissemination that it has been recalled as a result of a FISA-related
compliance incident and therefore may not be further disclosed or used for any
purpose. In the event that NSA is unable to complete these activities within 30
calendar days, NSA will promptly report the reasons it is unable to do so to NSD and
ODNI, and NSD will promptly notify the FISC in writing.

(5) (II'. '.i@J IS) Upon written notification of a final determination by NSD and ODNI
that the tasking of a selector was proper, the identifiers for all such information
identified through the steps described in Section 4(f)(2) may be removed from the

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MPL and such information will otherwise be handled in accordance with these
procedures.

(U) Section 5 - Acquisition and Handling - Attorney-Client Communications

(U) Privileged Communications. NSA may receive unminimized communications, acquired

pursuant to section 702 ofthe Act, to which an attorney is a party. These provisions address
the retention, dissemination, and use of information in such communications and apply when
NSA personnel handling a communication acquired pursuant to section 702 of the Act
determine (based on the information in that communication or other information of which the
NSA personnel are aware) that the communication is between an attorney (or any person
who, based on the information in the communication, appears clearly to be communicating
on behalf of an attorney, such as a paralegal or administrative assistant) and a client.

(a) (U) After discovering such a communication, if NSA personnel handling a

communication determine that the communication does not contain foreign intelligence
information or evidence of a crime, the communication must be destroyed irrespective of
whether the communication contains information protected by the attorney-client
privilege.

(b) (U) IfNSA personnel handling such a communication determine that the communication
appears to contain foreign intelligence information or evidence of a crime, the personnel
handling the communication must bring the communication to the attention of NS A's
Office of General Counsel for action as set forth below.

f the communication contains

privileged information pertaining to a criminal charge in the United States, the
communication shall be segregated.

(d)

(e)

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ccompanied by
appropriate an mg contro s, an s a me ude anguage advising rec1p1ents (I) that the
report contains information obtained from communications that may be subject to the
attorney-client privilege, (2) that use of the information is provided for intelligence
purposes only and may not be used in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding absent
express approval by the Attorney General, and (3) that further dissemination is prohibited
absent the ex ress a roval of the Assistant Attome General for National Securit

(i)

keep a record of all disseminations outside NSA of attorney-client privileged information

of the type described in subparagraphs (c) and (e) above.

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(U) Section 6 - Domestic Communications

(U) A communication identified as a domestic communication (and, if applicable, the

Internet transaction in which it is contained), including information treated as a domestic
communication, will be promptly destroyed upon recognition unless the Director (or Acting
Director) ofNSA specifically determines, in writing and on a communication-by-
communication basis, that the sender or intended recipient of the domestic communication
had been properly targeted under section 702 of the Act, and the domestic communication
satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

(1) (U) such domestic communication is reasonably believed to contain significant

foreign intelligence information. Such domestic communication (and, if applicable,
the transaction in which it is contained) may be retained, handled, and disseminated
in accordance with these procedures;

(2) (U) such domestic communication does not contain foreign intelligence information
but is reasonably believed to contain evidence of a crime that has been, is being, or is
about to be committed. Such domestic communication may be disseminated
(including United States person identities) to appropriate Federal law enforcement
authorities, in accordance with 50 U.S.C. §§ 1806(b) and 1825(c), Executive Order
No. 12333, and, where applicable, the crimes reporting procedures set out in the
August 1995 "Memorandum of Understanding: Reporting of Information Concerning
Federal Crimes," or any successor document. Such domestic communication (and, if
applicable, the transaction in which it is contained) may be retained by NSA for a
reasonable period of time, not to exceed six months unless extended in writing by the
Attorney General, to permit law enforcement agencies to determine whether access to
original recordings of such communication is required for law enforcement purposes;

(3) (U) such domestic communication is necessary to understand or assess a

communications security vulnerability of a United States Government or National
Security system. Such domestic communication may be provided to the FBI and/or
disseminated to other elements of the United States Government. Such domestic
communication (and, if applicable, the transaction in which it is contained) may be
retained for a period of time during which such information is of use in identifying or
defending against such a vulnerability; or

(4) (U) such domestic communication contains information pertaining to an imminent

threat of serious harm to life or property. Such information may be retained and
disseminated to the extent reasonably necessary to counter such threat.

(U) Notwithstanding the above, if a domestic communication indicates that a target has
entered the United States, NSA may promptly notify the FBI of that fact, as well as any
information concerning the target's location that is contained in the communication. NSA
may also use information derived from domestic communications for collection
avoidance purposes, and may provide such information to the FBI, Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) for purposes of collection

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avoidance. NSA may retain the communication from which such informati9n is derived
but shall restrict the further use or dissemination of the communication by placing it on
the MPL.

(U) NSA will report all determinations made by the Director (or the Acting Director) of
NSA under this Section to ODNI and NSD, which will promptly notify the FISC in
writing of all such determinations.

(U) Section 7 - Retention of Foreign Communications of or Concerning United States Persons

(U) Foreign communications of or concerning United States persons collected in the course
of an acquisition authorized under section 702 of the Act may be retained as follows:

(1) (U) Retention of foreign communications of or concerning United States persons is

permitted for a period of five years from the expiration date of the certification
authorizing the collection, unless the Director, Operations Directorate, NSA,
determines in writing that retention of a specific category of communications for a
longer specified period is required to respond to authorized foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence requirements. NSA will report all such determinations to ODNI
and NSD, which will promptly notify the FISC in writing of all such determinations.

a. (U) NSA may also retain unminimized section 702-acquired information that
reasonably appears to be encrypted or to contain secret meaning for a
sufficient duration to permit exploitation. A sufficient duration may consist of
any period of time during which the encrypted information is subject to, or of
use in, cryptanalysis or deciphering secret meaning. Once information is
decrypted or deciphered, the retention period, if applicable for such
information, is five years from the date of decryption or decipher.

(2) (U) if dissemination of such communications with reference to such United States
persons would be permitted under Section 8 below; or

(3) (U) if the information is evidence of a crime that has been, is being, or is about to be
committed and is provided to appropriate federal law enforcement authorities.

(U) Nothing in this section shall preclude NSA from retaining technical information (e.g.
encryption algorithms, keys, credentials) contained in, or derived from, foreign
communications of or concerning United States persons for any period of time during which
such information is used for cryptanalysis or processing information into intelligible form.
Any use or dissemination of such technical information must be made in accordance with the
requirements in these procedures.

(U) Section 8 - Dissemination

(U) Nothing in these procedures authorizes the dissemination of non-publicly available

information that identifies any United States person without such person's consent unless:

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(I) such person's identity is necessary to understand foreign intelligence information or

assess its importance; (2) the information is foreign intelligence information as defined in
50 U.S.C. § 1801(e)(l ); or (3) the information is evidence of a crime which has been, is
being, or is about to be committed and that is to be disseminated for law enforcement
purposes.

(U) A dissemination based on information of or concerning a United States person may be

made if the identity of the United States person is deleted and a generic term or symbol is
substituted so that the information cannot reasonably be connected with an identifiable
United States person. Otherwise, dissemination of intelligence based on information of or
concerning a United States person may only be made to a recipient requiring the identity of
such person for the performance of official duties but only if at least one of the following
criteria is also met:

( 1) (U) the United States person has consented to dissemination or the information of or
concerning the United States person is available publicly;

(2) (U) the identity of the United States person is necessary to understand foreign
intelligence information or assess its importance, e.g., the identity of a senior official
in the Executive Branch;

(3) (U) the information indicates that the United States person may be:

a. an agent of a foreign power;

b. a foreign power as defined in section l0l(a) of the Act;

c. residing outside the United States and holding an official position in the
government or military forces of a foreign power;

d. a corporation or other entity that is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by a

foreign power; or

e. acting in collaboration with an intelligence or security service of a foreign power

and the United States person has, or has had, access to classified national security
information or material;

(4) (U) the information indicates that the United States person may be the target of
intelligence activities of a foreign power;

(5) (U) the information indicates that the United States person is engaged in the
unauthorized disclosure of classified national security information, but only after the
agency that originated the information certifies that it is properly classified;

(6) (U) the United States person's identity is necessary to understand or assess a
communications or network security vulnerability;

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(7) (U) the information indicates that the United States person may be engaging in
international terrorist activities;

(8) (U) the acquisition of the United States person's information was authorized by a
court order issued pursuant to the Act and the information may relate to the foreign
intelligence purpose of the surveillance; or

(9) (U) the information is reasonably believed to contain evidence that a crime has been,
is being, or is about to be committed, provided that dissemination is for law
enforcement purposes and is made in accordance with 50 U.S.C. §§ 1806(b) and
1825(c), Executive Order No. 12333, and, where applicable, the crimes reporting
procedures set out in the August 1995 "Memorandum of Understanding: Reporting of
Information Concerning Federal Crimes," or any successor document.

a. (U) such information is reasonably believed to contain significant foreign

intelligence information;

b. (U) such information does not contain foreign intelligence information but is
reasonably believed to contain evidence of a crime that has been, is being, or
is about to be committed. Such information may be disseminated (including
United States person identities) to appropriate Federal law enforcement
authorities; in accordance with 50 U.S.C. §§ 1806(b) and 1825(c), Executive
Order No. 12333, and, where applicable, the crimes reporting procedures set
out in the August 1995 "Memorandum of Understanding: Reporting of
Information Concerning Federal Crimes," or any successor document;

c. (U) such information is necessary to understand or assess a communications

security vulnerability of a United States Government or National Security
system. Such information may be provided to the FBI and/or disseminated to
other elements of the United States Government; or

d. (U) the information pertains to an imminent threat of serious harm to life or

property. Such information may be disseminated to the extent reasonably
necessary to counter such threat.

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(U) Section 9 - Provision of Unminimized Information to CIA, FBI, and NCTC

( 1) (U) NSA may provide to CIA unminimized information acquired pursuant to

section 702 of the Act. CIA will identify to NSA targets for which NSA may
provide unminimized information to CIA. CIA will handle any such
unminimized information received from NSA in accordance with CIA
minimization and querying procedures adopted by the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, pursuant to
subsections 702(e) and 702(f) of the Act, respectively.

(2) (U) NSA may provide to the FBI unminimized information acquired pursuant to
section 702 of the Act. The FBI will identify to NSA targets for which NSA may
provide unminimized information to the FBI. The FBI will handle any such
unminimized information received from NSA in accordance with FBI minimization
and querying procedures adopted by the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Director of National Intelligence, pursuant to subsections 702(e) and 702(f) of the
Act, respectively.

(3) (SAHF) NSA may provide to NCTC unminimized information acquired pursuant to
section 702 of the Act

NCTC will identify to NSA targets for which NSA may provide unminimized
information to the NCTC. NCTC will handle any such unminimized information
received from NSA in accordance with NCTC minimization and querying procedures
adopted by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National
Intelligence, pursuant to subsections 702(e) and 702(f) of the Act, respectively.

(U) Section 10 - Other Foreign Communications

(U) Foreign communications of or concerning a non-United States person may be retained,

used, and disseminated in any form in accordance with other applicable law, regulation, and
policy.

(U) Section 11 - Collaboration with Foreign Governments

(a) (U) Procedures for the dissemination of evaluated and minimized information. Pursuant
to section 1.7(c)(8) of Executive Order No. 12333, as amended, NSA conducts foreign
cryptologic liaison relationships with certain foreign governments. Information acquired
pursuant to section 702 of the Act may be disseminated to a foreign government. Except
as provided below in Section l l (b) of these procedures, any dissemination to a foreign
government of information of or concerning a United States person that is acquired
pursuant to section 702 may only be done in a manner consistent with Section 8 of these
NSA minimization procedures.

(b) (U) Procedures for technical or linguistic assistance. It is anticipated that NSA may
obtain information that, because of the information's technical or linguistic content, may

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require further analysis by foreign governments to assist NSA in determining the

information's meaning or significance. Notwithstanding other provisions of these
minimization procedures, NSA may disclose computer disks, tape recordings, transcripts,
or other information or items containing unminimized information acquired pursuant to
section 702 to foreign governments for further processing and analysis, under the
following restrictions with respect to any materials so disclosed: ·

(1) (U) Disclosure to foreign governments will be solely for translation or

analysis of such information, and assisting foreign governments will make no
use of any information of or concerning any person except to provide
technical and linguistic assistance to NSA.

(2) (U) Disclosure will be only to those personnel within foreign governments
involved in the translation or analysis of such infonnation. The number of
such personnel will be restricted to the extent feasible. There will be no
disclosure within foreign governments of this unminimized data.

(3) (U) Foreign governments will make no permanent agency record of

information of or concerning any person referred to or recorded on computer
disks, tape recordings, transcripts, or other items disclosed by NSA to foreign
governments, provided that foreign governments may maintain such
temporary records as are necessary to enable them to assist NSA with the
translation or analysis of such information. Records maintained by foreign
governments for this purpose may not be disclosed within the foreign
governments, except to personnel involved in providing technical or linguistic
assistance to NSA.

(4) (U) Upon the conclusion of such technical or linguistic assistance to NSA,
computer disks, tape recordings, transcripts, or other items or information
disclosed to foreign governments will either be returned to NSA or be
destroyed with an accounting of such destruction made to NSA.

(5) (U) Any information that foreign governments provide to NSA as a result of
such technical or linguistic assistance may be disseminated by NSA in
accordance with these minjmization procedures.

(U) Section 12 - NSA User Activity Monitoring

,oot If) As required by numerous statutes and regulatory issuances, NSA conducts user
activity monitoring of its internal computer systems and networks to deter, detect, and
otherwise protect against unauthorized access or use of those systems and networks, and
classified or other sensitive data that is stored, rocessed, or transmitted on those s stems and
networks. These securit activities includ

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user activity monitoring systems and used by NSA solely to deter, detect, and otherwise
protect against unauthorized access and use ofNSA's systems and networks. Access to any
NSA user activity monitoring system that may contain unminimized section 702-acquired
infonnation shall be limited to NSA per nnel who re uire access to rform their official
ties related to user activity monitorin
y personnel with access to sue systems must rece1v~ trammg on
these procedures. NSA shall maintain records of all personnel who have access to user
activity monitoring systems. In the event NSA recognizes a record that contains
unminimized section 702-acquired information in an NSA user activity monitoring system,
any dissemination of section 702-acquired infonnation must be made in accordance with the
dissemination requirements in these procedures.

J/y(V
Date MATTHEW G. OLSEN
Assistant Attorney General for National Security

•or [Link]:lil l11101ii8&1f

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