Changes

===Legal status of surveillance===

===Legal status of surveillance===

According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation."<ref>

According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation."<ref>

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12333.html </ref> Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person."<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency. In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref>

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12333.html</ref> Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person."<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency. In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref>

==Operation Fast and Furious==

==Operation Fast and Furious==