On April 1, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the Annual Statistical Transparency Report (ASTR) Regarding the Intelligence Community’s (IC) Use of National Security Surveillance Authorities for Calendar Year 2025. The ASTR combines statistics with contextual information to share with the American people on the IC’s use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities, National Security Letters, and other national security authorities. The report also provides insights into how these authorities are overseen to ensure privacy and protect the civil liberties of persons whose information is acquired as a part of the IC’s national security work.
A few of the report’s findings are highlighted below:
- During this reporting period, there was an increase in the number of FISA Section 702 targets consistent with increases seen in previous annual reports.
- The number of U.S. person query terms used by the National Security Agency (NSA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to query content remained relatively static.
- The report notes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) issued three FISA Section 702 orders during this reporting period, including the approval of renewal certifications on March 18, 2025 (publicly released on September 12, 2025) and the approval of a new counternarcotics certification on April 9, 2025, following the FISC’s denial order on February 20, 2025 (publicly released on August 19, 2025).
- The number of U.S. person queries conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) increased slightly from the immediate prior period but remained lower than previous years, in large part because of the increased focus on technical and policy controls, as well as individual caution related to accurately implementing the reforms.
- The report contains additional statistics, as well as explanations about how the IC uses its authorities and the counting methodologies to obtain the statistics.
Source: ODNI
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