Title 50 › CHAPTER 36 — FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE › SUBCHAPTER V — OVERSIGHT › § 1874
People who are ordered to keep a national security request secret can still publish simple, aggregate counts about those requests. They can choose one of four report styles: three types of semiannual reports or one annual report. The reports cover counts for things like national security letters, counts of targeted "customer selectors," orders for contents, and orders for non‑contents. The semiannual options report counts in bands of 1,000 (0–999), 500 (0–499), or 250 (0–249). The annual option reports combined totals in bands of 100 (0–99). Semiannual reports using the 1,000 or 500 bands must only include national security letters from the previous 180 days and other orders for a 180‑day period that ends at least 180 days before the report is published. If a person gets an order for a brand‑new platform, product, or service, they cannot report it until 540 days after receiving it. The 250‑band semiannual report covers only the previous 180 days. The annual report covers a 1‑year period that ends at least 1 year before publication. The person and the Government may also agree to publish the same types of information at different times or in a different form. Definitions: "Contents" — meaning defined in 18 U.S.C. 2510; "national security letter" — meaning defined in section 1873 of this title.
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War and National Defense, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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50 U.S.C. § 1874
Title 50, War and National Defense
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110