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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This report provides insights into the rigorous, multi-layered oversight framework that governs the IC, and the release of this report is consistent with the requirement in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended (codified in 50 U.S.C. § 1873(b)), and the IC’s commitment to the Principles of Intelligence Transparency.

Source: ODNI

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The report also provides insights into the rigorous, multi-layered oversight framework that governs the IC, which is designed to protect the civil liberties and privacy of persons whose information is acquired pursuant to these national security authorities. The release of this report is consistent with the requirement in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended (codified in 50 U.S.C. § 1873(b)), and the IC’s commitment to the Principles of Intelligence Transparency.

This 10th anniversary edition of the ASTR includes a redesigned Executive Summary to enhance readability and public understanding. For example, in response to feedback received on last year’s report, FBI’s Section 702 U.S. person query statistics are shown in this year’s ASTR using a new methodology that more closely aligns with how other agencies count such queries. FBI’s data is also presented in a side-by-side format, showing statistics calculated under both the prior and new methodologies to enable meaningful comparison across years. The report also includes additional explanation of how the IC safeguards U.S. and other person information.

Source: ODNI

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“I am extremely pleased to announce Rebecca (Becky) Richards as Chief of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency (CLPT). In this role, Becky will serve as the Chief Transparency Officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and as the Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the Intelligence Community (IC). Becky will lead IC efforts to ensure civil liberties and privacy protections are imbedded into our intelligence work.”

“Serving at the National Security Agency (NSA) since 2014, Becky launched NSA’s Civil Liberties and Privacy Office and was NSA’s first Director of Civil Liberties and Privacy and its first Transparency Officer. In this role, Becky found effective ways to communicate and engage with the public and NSA’s overseers about the value of signals intelligence and protecting civil liberties and privacy. Before joining NSA, Becky served in a variety of privacy-related leadership positions at the Department of Homeland Security, including Senior Director for Privacy Compliance. She also held positions at TRUSTe, the independent non-profit privacy seal program, and the Department of Commerce, where she began her federal service as an international trade specialist.”

“As ODNI welcomes Becky, I would also like to express my sincerest gratitude and congratulations to Ben Huebner, our previous Chief of CLPT since July 2019. I am very thankful, though, that Ben will continue to serve in the IC.”

Source: ODNI

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Published every year since 2014, the report provides statistics and context regarding the government’s use of FISA authorities, National Security Letters, and other national security authorities. The report also offers insight into the rigorous oversight framework that spans all three branches of government and safeguards the privacy and civil liberties of individuals whose information is acquired in accordance with national security authorities.

“We’re committed to proactively informing the public, who entrusts us to protect our nation and our civil liberties, on the Intelligence Community’s use of key national security authorities,” said Ben Huebner, Chief, ODNI Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency. “In fact, this report exceeds statutory requirements and provides additional facts and context to enhance public understanding of our mission and how we accomplish it.”

Source: ODNI

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This report provides the public with statistics and contextual information on the scope of the government’s use of FISA authorities, National Security Letters, and other national security authorities. In conjunction with other publicly released material, this report adds insight into the rigorous and multi-layered oversight framework governing the IC that safeguards the privacy and civil liberties of United States (U.S.) person and non-U.S. person information acquired pursuant to these national security authorities.

“We are pleased to publish ODNI’s eighth annual statistical transparency report,” said Ben Huebner, chief, ODNI Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency. “The Intelligence Community remains committed to providing the public with information about how we apply important national security authorities. The information in today’s report will help foster continued public dialogue regarding how the Intelligence Community protects national security, our privacy, and our liberty.”

Source: ODNI

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Providing these statistics allows for an additional way to track the use of FISA authorities, National Security Letters (NSLs), and its dissemination of information within the government when required. The statistics also add further context regarding the IC’s rigorous and multilayered oversight framework that safeguards the privacy of United States persons’ information and non-U.S. persons’ information acquired pursuant to these national security authorities. This report goes beyond the government’s statutory duty of releasing statistics by further providing the public with detailed explanations as to how the IC uses its national security authorities.

“While secrecy is necessary for many aspects of intelligence, it is our obligation to provide the public with appropriate and effective transparency to allow individuals to make their own judgments on how the Intelligence Community uses the authorities that have been granted by the American people,” said Ben Huebner, Chief, ODNI Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency Office. “We are therefore pleased to publish our seventh annual statistical transparency report. More than a list of figures, this report provides explanations and context regarding how the Intelligence Community uses key authorities. As with past reports, the information contained in today’s report will allow the public to continue a fact-based discussion on how we achieve both national security and the protection of our privacy and our liberty.”

Source: ODNI 

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In an appearance he made on March 18 at the “Freedom of Information Day” celebration at American University’s law school, Robert Litt, the general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said the public’s current quest for “transparency” in the Intelligence Community should not be pursued to the point that it threatens national security.

“In the long run, our ability to protect the public requires that we have the public’s support,” Litt acknowledged. “But lines must be drawn.”

“First and foremost, we cannot allow transparency to compromise our sources and methods. We must continue to protect the specific targets of our intelligence collection, the specific methods by which we accomplish that collection, and the specifics of the intelligence we collect.”

He cited an example in which the nation would be harmed if too much information was disclosed about the Intelligence Community’s use of specific sources and methods.

“Were we to announce to the world that we have the ability, for example, to intercept emails sent using particular email services,” Litt pointed out, “we would help terrorists, cyber criminals, foreign intelligence officers and other foreign intelligence targets communicate without fear of detection.”

Litt told his audience that much of the public discussion about the NSA’s surveillance activities has failed to distinguish among what the Intelligence Community can do technically, what it can do legally and what it actually does do.

“The recent discussion has focused on technical capabilities — which are often fascinating and, quite frankly, amazing — while leaving a misleading impression of actual activities,” Litt observed.

“For example, there have been press reports that NSA has engaged in a concerted effort to break encryption. Without commenting on the accuracy of any particular story . . . isn’t that exactly what intelligence agencies have historically done, and what they are supposed to do? We know that our enemies use encryption and other techniques precisely to avoid surveillance; NSA’s job is to figure out how to break those techniques, and its capabilities are unmatched. But saying that NSA can break encryption is different from saying that they routinely spy on encrypted conversations of ordinary Americans or foreigners. They don’t.”

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