With ever more human activity taking place on electronic networks, electronic surveillance is an essential tool for combating the array of complex threats facing the nation. At the same time, the powerful capabilities available to the intelligence community and law enforcement and the secrecy that necessarily envelops them raise inevitable and important questions for individual privacy, the rule of law, and public accountability.

In late 2014, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) began a two-year initiative aimed at developing a new approach to surveillance policy for the next administration. On December 12, CNAS will release a comprehensive report on the future of surveillance policy, including 61 recommendations for the next administration and Congress.

The presentation of the report will be followed by a moderated panel featuring WilmerHale Partner Ben Powell who will discuss key surveillance-policy issues facing the incoming administration and the CNAS report's concrete, actionable recommendations for addressing them.