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BALANCING NATIONAL SECURITY AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS 151

government, technical flaws, the weakness of their chosen agents, or some
other reason. 213 Second, it is next to impossible to spell out how these cases
unfolded without giving away details about sources and methods. (That
is, unless the government releases misleading details. But sooner or later
some whistleblower would likely expose the ploy, which would undermine
the whole enterprise, which was meant to build trust in government.) Thus,
one intelligence official reports that the leaks regarding the NSA snooping
programs have already led to terrorist groups “changing their communi-
cations behavior based on these disclosures,” which means that we might
“miss tidbits that could be useful in stopping the next plot.” 214
Moreover, regardless of the amount of information about specific cases
the government releases, skeptics are sure to find details that need fur-
ther clarification and documentation. (This is the reason public relations
experts urge those whose misdeeds are under public scrutiny to “tell all”
right from the start. This strategy may serve well politicians who cheat on
their spouses, but it would not serve those who combat terrorism.) Thus, fol-
lowing the uproar over PRISM, technology companies sought to “reassure
users” by releasing reports on the frequency of government data requests.
The result, as reported in The New York Times, was that “rather than provide
clarity, the companies’ disclosures have left many questions unanswered.” 215
When NSA Director General Keith Alexander released details about how
the agency’s surveillance programs had thwarted terrorist plots, the media
immediately asked for more. 216 Moreover, there is no way for the media to
determine whether the released cases are typical or whether they have been
chosen because they reflect well on the government.

3. Increasing Accountability
A considerable number of suggestions have been made regarding how
greater oversight could be implemented to hold the government to account.
These include the following:

● A panel of high-level, independent experts who could review the
technologies being used by the NSA and provide recommendations
regarding how to balance privacy and security 217
● FISA could include a “privacy advocate” who would add an adversar-
ial element to requests made by the courts. 218 Legislation to this effect
has been introduced by two members of the House who propose
creating an “Office of the Constitutional Advocate,” which would be
led by an advocate appointed by the judicial branch. 219 Skeptics of
the proposition to empower FISA point to the fact that much NSA