US spy satellitles to be used on Americans

Raw Story | August 14, 2007
Nick Juliano

Local and federal agencies are to have vastly expanded access to information gathered from spy satellites in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Information from "some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools" will soon be at the disposal of a wide array of law enforcement agencies at all levels of government, reports Robert Block in the Journal Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell decided to increase access to the spy data earlier this year and asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to facilitate access to the spy data by civilian agencies and law enforcement.

Previously, access to only the most basic spy-sattelite data was limited to a handful of federal civilian agencies, such as NASA and the US Geological Survey, which used the images for scientific and environmental study.

The move to turn spy satellites on American citizens raises legal questions because the use of such data for law enforcement is "largely uncharted territory." Even the officials behind the move were unsure of its legal implications, the Journal reports.

"There is little if any policy, guidance or procedures regarding the collection, exploitation and dissemination of domestic MASINT," noted a 2005 study from the US intelligence community, which recommended access to spy satellites. MASINT, or Measurement and Signatures Intelligence, is a particular kind of spy-satellite data that would become available to law enforcement for the first time.

According to defense experts, the Journal reports, MASINT uses radar, lasers, infrared, electromagnetic data and other technologies to see through cloud cover, forest canopies and even concrete to create images or gather data.

"The full capabilities of these systems are unknown outside the intelligence community, because they are among the most closely held secrets in government," Block writes. "Some civil-liberties activists worry that without proper oversight, only those inside the National Application Office will know what is being monitored from space.

"You are talking about enormous power," Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel and director of the Project on Freedom, Security and Technology for the Center for Democracy and Technology told the paper. "Not only is the surveillance they are contemplating intrusive and omnipresent, it's also invisible. And that's what makes this so dangerous."

DHS intelligence chief Charles Allen "says the department is cognizant of the civil-rights and privacy concerns, which is why he plans to take time before providing law-enforcement agencies with access to the data. He says DHS will have a team of lawyers to review requests for access or use of the systems."

TiVo's watching you. But who's watching TiVo?

Perspective: TiVo's watching you. But who's watching TiVo?By Charles Cooper -->
Published: February 20, 2004, 10:30 AM PST
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Whaddaya know? Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" turned out to be the most popular TiVo moment during last month's Super Bowl game.
We now know this, because TiVo was watching many of you, while you were watching TiVo.
While everybody from Michael Powell to the Wild Man of Borneo weighed in on the debate over the propriety of Jackson's titillating moment on stage, some eager beaver at TiVo spotted an opportunity for free and easy publicity. But after publishing that information, TiVo was instead forced into damage control, as the Jackson data disclosure invited a round of knee-jerk breast-beating.
Handed a golden opportunity to harrumph about the creeping digital encroachment in our lives, the digerati's paragons of virtue were upset that a line was being crossed: If TiVo's snooping did not constitute an egregiously unacceptable example of technology trespassing, then what did?
Holy Peeping Tom, Batman. Was it that Orwellian? Maybe I need to become more of a fussbudget, but the fact is that TiVo-philes knew--or should have known--what they were getting into when they first unwrapped their digital video recorders. The user agreement that comes with the product discloses the company's data-gathering practices.
There's a more pressing question deserving of examination. TiVo's big eye in the sky lets the company track what's been watched as well as the number of times particular moments get replayed.
TiVo-philes knew--or should have known--what they were getting into when they first unwrapped their digital video recorders. Even though TiVo says it strips out any information that might otherwise get traced back to an individual viewer, that's still a fine line to straddle. The company swears that no demographic information ever gets relayed, but we're nonetheless left hoping that the folks who make that pledge live up to their word.
This story is only in its beginning chapters. DVRs are becoming mainstream, and both cable and satellite TV companies are promoting the systems to their subscribers. Indeed, U.S. consumers have so far bought more than 3 million.
The digital web that's growing up around us constitutes a lot more than TiVo. Cable operators can track TV-viewing habits, just as Internet service providers can track what you do online (with or without packet sniffers). Take a moment to check, and you'll find that your PC has more cookies than the Girl Scouts have. Truth be told, Web sites such as CNET News.com has a pretty accurate idea which articles you choose to read--but of course, we're as pure as the driven snow.
I'd like my privacy back, but that's probably a pipedream. If it's digital, someone is probably watching--if not already making a database entry. Where all this is headed is anyone's guess, but you can glimpse the lengthening shadow of Big Brother in the foreground