Lawsuit
Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA
A lawsuit challenging the NSA’s “Upstream” surveillance
The Knight Institute and the ACLU are challenging the lawfulness of the NSA’s so-called “Upstream” surveillance, under which the NSA intercepts American’s international communications at internet chokepoints around the United States and subsequently scans those communications for “selectors” associated with foreign surveillance targets.
The lawsuit argues that the NSA’s Upstream surveillance program is an unprecedented form of surveillance that violates the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, one of the most-trafficked websites on the internet.
In October 2015, a federal district court dismissed the suit, holding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. On May 23, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed in part, holding that the Wikimedia Foundation has standing to challenge the NSA’s Upstream surveillance.
Status: Petition for a Writ of Certiorari denied on February 21, 2023.
Case Information: Wikimedia Found. v. NSA, No. 1:15-cv-00662-TSE (D. Md.), No. 15-2560 (4th Cir.).
Press Statements
Analysis
Legal Filings
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KEY DOCUMENTS
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Supreme Court
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4th Cir.
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Order Denying Petition for Rehearing
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Plaintiff's Petition for Rehearing En Banc
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Opinion (dismissing case)
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Plaintiff's Reply Brief
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Government's Response Brief
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Amicus Briefs (in support of Plaintiff)
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Stephen I. Vladeck
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Evidence Law Professors
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Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Brennan Center for Justice, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, FreedomWorks Foundation, TechFreedom
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Network Engineers and Technologists
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Center for Democracy & Technology and New America's Open Technology Institute
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Plaintiff's Opening Brief
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Joint Appendix (volume 1 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 2 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 3 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 4 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 5 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 6 of 7)
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Joint Appendix (volume 7 of 7)
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Amended Briefing Schedule
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Briefing Schedule
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Plaintiff's Notice of Appeal
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D. Md.
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Opinion (granting government’s motion for summary judgment on standing)
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Government’s Sur-Reply
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Exhibit List
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Exhibit 16 - 3d Declaration of Dr. Henning Schulzrinne
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Exhibit 17 - 2d Declaration of Dr. Alan Salzberg
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Plaintiff's Sur-Reply
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Declaration of Scott Bradner
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Declaration of Jonathon Penney
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Declaration of Michelle Paulson
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Declaration of Tilman Bayer
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Declaration of Emily Temple-Wood
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Government’s Reply
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Exhibit List
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Exhibit 6 - 2d Declaration of Dr. Henning Schulzrinne
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Exhibit 7 - Declaration of Dr. Alan J. Salzberg
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Exhibit 8 - 2d Declaration of James J. Gilligan
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Exhibit 9 - Wikimedia’s Responses and Objections to DOJ (01/11/2018)
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Exhibit 10 - Relevant Portions of the Deposition of James Alexander, Wikimedia Foundation witness
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Exhibit 11 - Relevant Portions of the Deposition of Michelle Paulson, Wikimedia Foundation witness
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Exhibit 12 - Wikimedia Foundation, "Securing access to Wikimedia sites with HTTPS" (06/12/2015)
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Exhibit 13 - Wikipedia: Village pump (technical)/Archive 138
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Exhibit 14 - Jimmy Wales and Lila Tretikov, “Stop Spying on Wikimedia Users” (N.Y. Times, 03/10/2015)
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Exhibit 15 - Wikimedia Foundation, "Wikimedia v. NSA: Wikimedia Foundation files suit against NSA to challenge upstream mass surveillance" (03/10/2015)
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Plaintiff's Opposition
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Declaration of Scott Bradner
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Appendix 1
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Appendix 2
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Appendix 3
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Declaration of Jonathon Penney
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Declaration of Michelle Paulson
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Declaration of James Alexander
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Declaration of Tilman Bayer
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Declaration of Emily Temple-Wood
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Declaration of Patrick Toomey
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Government's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit List
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Exhibit 1 - Declaration of Dr. Henning Schulzrinne
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Exhibit 2 - Declaration of James J. Gilligan
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Exhibit 3 - Wikimedia's Responses and Objections to NSA (03/23/2018)
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Exhibit 4 - Wikimedia's Responses and Objections to ODNI (04/06/2018)
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Exhibit 5 - Wikimedia's Responses and Objections to NSA (01/11/2018)
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Order (scheduling oral argument)
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Order (scheduling status conference)
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Opinion (denying motion to compel)
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Plaintiff's Reply
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Declaration of Ashley Gorski
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Transcript Citations
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Deposition of Rebecca J. Richards
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Government's Opposition
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Redacted Declaration of George Barnes
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Plaintiff's Supplement to Motion to Compel
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Order (endorsing briefing schedule)
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Plaintiff's Motion to Compel
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Declaration Patrick Toomey
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Joint Motion to Set Briefing Schedule
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Order (re: requested discovery extension)
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Joint Request Proposed Order
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Joint Request for Discovery Continuation
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Government's Answer
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Joint Proposed Discovery Plan
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Order (directing filing of proposed discovery plan)
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Transcript of Hearing
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Plaintiff's Reply
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Government's Response
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Plaintiff's Brief on Procedure
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Order (requiring briefing on how to proceed)
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Government's Response re: Status Conference
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Plaintiffs' Motion for a Status Conference
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4th Cir.
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D. Md.