FAQ
What is the difference between MI5 and MI6?
MI5, formally the Security Service, works inside the United Kingdom against espionage, terrorism, and subversion, and holds no arrest powers. MI6, formally the Secret Intelligence Service, operates abroad, recruiting agents to collect secret intelligence. The split mirrors the American division between the FBI and the CIA, with the same occasional turf friction.
Who does the CIA answer to?
The CIA Director is nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and reports to the Director of National Intelligence, who coordinates all eighteen American agencies. The Director must keep the congressional intelligence committees informed, with the so called gang of eight notified on the most sensitive covert programs. Congress controls the budget.
Which are the oldest intelligence agencies?
The Office of Naval Intelligence, founded in 1882, is the oldest continuously operating American agency. The Intelligence Bureau of India traces to 1887, the French Deuxieme Bureau to the 1870s, and the British services to 1909. Prussia and Russia ran political police far earlier, making the question partly one of definitions.
What do classification levels mean?
In the American system, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret mark the expected damage from disclosure, each requiring a clearance and a need to know. Codeword compartments split access further around specific programs. Classification marks sensitivity to sources and methods, not truth or importance, and most records carry automatic declassification schedules, commonly at 25 years.
What happens when operations are declassified?
Agencies review aging records under executive orders, redacting sources and methods before release. Landmark disclosures include the VENONA decrypts in 1995, Corona satellite imagery the same year, the Church Committee volumes in the 1970s, and formal CIA acknowledgment of the 1953 Iran coup in 2013. Declassified files drive most serious intelligence history.
How does congressional oversight work?
The House and Senate intelligence committees review programs, budgets, and covert findings under the National Security Act. Covert action requires a written presidential finding and notification to Congress within days. The FISA court reviews certain surveillance touching Americans. Committees can cut funds and hold hearings, as the Church Committee proved, though critics debate how assertive oversight is in practice.