In conclusion, we believe the FBI and the Department have made significant progress in implementing the recommendations from our first NSL report and in adopting other corrective actions to address problems we and the FBI identified in the use of national security letters. We also found that the FBI has devoted significant energy, time, and resources toward ensuring that its field managers and agents understand the seriousness of the FBI’s shortcomings in its use of NSLs and their responsibility for correcting these deficiencies.
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However, because only a year has passed since the OIG’s first NSL report was released and some measures are not fully implemented, we also believe it is too early to definitively state whether the new systems and controls developed by the FBI and the Department will eliminate fully the problems with the uses of NSLs that we and the FBI have identified. We believe the FBI must implement all of our recommendations in the first NSL report, demonstrate sustained commitment to the steps it has taken and committed to take to improve compliance, implement additional recommendations in this second report, consider additional measures to enhance privacy protections for NSL-derived information, and remain vigilant in holding FBI personnel accountable for properly preparing and approving NSLs and for handling responsive records appropriately.
