tagged w/ Domestic Surveillance
-
National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney reveals he believes domestic surveillance has become more expansive under President Obama than President George W. Bush. He estimates the NSA has assembled 20 trillion “transactions” — phone calls, emails and other forms of data — from Americans. This likely includes copies of almost all of the emails sent and received from most people living in the United States. Binney talks about Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and challenges NSA Director Keith Alexander’s assertion that the NSA is not intercepting information about U.S. citizens.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/20/whistleblower_the_nsa_is_lying_usNational Security Agency whistleblower William Binney reveals he believes domestic... more
-
-
Dagum
-
added this
-
1 month ago
- |
-
Published on Thursday, February 9, 2012 by Common Dreams
30,000 Domestic Drones to Fill the Sky, Civil Liberties at Risk
FAA Act would raise 'very serious privacy issues'
- Common Dreams staff
A bill has passed in the House and Senate this week that would increase the presence of drones in U.S. civilian airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act requires the FAA to alleviate many current rules on domestic drone authorization. Drones would now be able to fly in the same airspace as commercial airliners, private planes, and cargo jets. Up to 30,000 drones could be allowed in U.S. airspace by the end of the decade.
The Senate passed the bill on Monday, 75-20 and allots $63.4 billion to the FAA. Obama is expected to sign it into law.
ACLU, among other civil liberties groups, is expressing grave concern for civilian privacy, as the legislation does not restrict drone surveillance activities by police and federal government agencies.
* * *
ACLU states:
As we explained in our recent report, drone technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, and there is a lot of pent-up demand for them within the law enforcement community. But, domestic deployment of unmanned aircraft for surveillance purposes has largely been blocked so far by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is rightly concerned about the safety effects of filling our skies with flying robots (which crash significantly more often than manned aircraft).[...]
Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.[...]
We don’t want to wonder, every time we step out our front door, whether some eye in the sky is watching our every move. [...]
Here are details on what the bill would do in terms of drones:
Require the FAA to simplify and speed up the process by which it issues permission to government agencies to operate drones. It must do this within 90 days. The FAA has already been working on a set of proposed regulations to loosen the rules around drones, reportedly set for release in the spring of 2012.
Require the FAA to allow “a government public safety agency” to operate any drone weighing 4.4 pounds or less as long as certain conditions are met (within line of sight, during the day, below 400 feet in altitude, and only in safe categories of airspace).Nano Hummingbird Surveillance Drone
Require the FAA to establish a pilot project within six months to create six test zones for integrating drones “into the national airspace system.”
Require the FAA to create a comprehensive plan “to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.” “Civil” drones means those operated by the private sector; currently it is all but impossible for any non-government entity, except for hobbyists, to get permission to fly drones (for-profit use of drones is banned). Industry groups and their congressional supporters see this as a potential area for growth. Congress specifies that the plan must provide for the integration of drones into the national airspace system “as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015.” The FAA has nine months to create the plan. The FAA is also required to create a “5-year roadmap for the introduction” of civil drones into the national airspace.
Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.
Require the FAA to publish a final rule within 18 months after the comprehensive plan is submitted, “that will allow” civil operation of small (under 55 pounds) drones in the national airspace, and a proposed rule for carrying out the comprehensive plan.
* * *
TPM reports:
The federal government is also facing a lawsuit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group that is asking for the FAA to release records on the almost-300 agencies that have authorization to operate drones domestically. Jennifer Lynch, an attorney with the EFF who brought the case, told TPM that this bill makes their suit even more important. “I think the fact that Congress is pressuring the FAA to expand its UAS program through the FAA Reauthorization Act only reinforces the need for these records,” Lynch said. “It’s important that we learn more about how the federal government and state and local law enforcement agencies are already using UASs before we expand their use further. The privacy concerns posed by the use of drones for domestic surveillance are too great to excuse the FAA’s lack of transparency on this issue.”
(Published on Thursday, February 9, 2012 by Common Dreams
30,000 Domestic Drones to... more
-
-
The FBI Has a History of Creating Terrorists, to Terrorize Americans (VIDEO)
RELATED ARTICLE:
Oregon: FBI Thwarts Own Car BombThe FBI Has a History of Creating Terrorists, to Terrorize Americans (VIDEO)... more
-
-
-
For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured hundreds of requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive, according to nearly 1,000 pages of internal e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.
The Freedom of Information Act (commonly known by its acronym FOIA), the main tool forcing the government to be more open, is designed to be insulated from political considerations. Anyone who seeks information through the law is supposed to get it unless disclosure would hurt national security, violate personal privacy or expose confidential decision-making in certain areas.
But in July 2009, Homeland Security introduced a directive requiring a wide range of information to be vetted by political appointees for "awareness purposes," no matter who requested it.For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured hundreds of requests... more
-
-
The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time — and says it uses that information to predict the future. The company is called Recorded Future, and it scours tens of thousands of websites, blogs and Twitter accounts to find the relationships between people, organizations, actions and incidents — both present and still-to-come.The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the... more
-
-
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to an intelligence or terrorism investigation.The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies... more
-
-
The Washington Post published the results of a major two-year investigation this past week. It revealed that the top-secret world the government created in response to the events on Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.
After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.The Washington Post published the results of a major two-year investigation this past... more
-
-
A 22-year-old anti-war activist from Evergreen State College will get $169,000 as part of a settlement with the WState Patrol and two other law-enforcement agencies over allegations that their officers engaged in political spying and harassment on behalf of the U.S. military.A 22-year-old anti-war activist from Evergreen State College will get $169,000 as part... more
-
-
News outlet The Examiner reports that despite assurances by a key member of the Obama administration, Pakistani passengers flying in or out of the U.S. will be subjected to enhanced screening, including full-body pat-downs, a physical inspection of personal property, or screening by one of the 40 advanced-imaging machines located in 19 U.S. airports.News outlet The Examiner reports that despite assurances by a key member of the Obama... more
-
-
President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions of the controversial counterterrorism statute, the USA PATRIOT Act. Provisions in the measure would have expired this past week without Obama’s signature.
The act, which was adopted in the weeks after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, expands the government's ability to spy on Americans in the name of national security.President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions of the... more
-
-
In a case before a federal appeals court, the Obama administration is arguing to allow warrantless tracking for cell phones.In a case before a federal appeals court, the Obama administration is arguing to allow... more
-
-
URGE AN IMMEDIATE FBI INVESTIGATION!!
PETITION:
Inspector General Fine,
I urge you to open an investigation immediately to determine if the FBI has been violating its own internal guidelines -- before Attorney General Mukasey’s proposed new guidelines are allowed to take effect.
Recent comments by Attorney General Mukasey and FBI officials raise suspicions that the FBI is pushing these new guidelines to legitimize inappropriate fishing expeditions.
Are these new regulations being implemented as part of a cover-up? Have FBI officials been willfully ignoring or mis-interpreting existing guidelines?
I urge you to launch an immediate investigation. The FBI must not implement any new guidelines intended to cover up past wrongdoing or institutionalize abuses of investigative power.
URGE AN IMMEDIATE FBI INVESTIGATION!!
PETITION:
Inspector General Fine,
I... more
-
-
4 years ago at the Republican National Convention in New York City, more than 1800 people were arrested in the largest mass arrest in the history of political conventions. One of the arrestees was a journalist whose videotape led to a historic civil rights lawsuit that uncovered an international police spying ring.4 years ago at the Republican National Convention in New York City, more than 1800... more
-
-
Agency Violated Charter for 25 Years,
Wiretapped Journalists and Dissidents
Update - Full Report Now Available and Full Text Searchable
CIA Announces Declassification of 1970s "Skeletons" File,
Archive Posts Justice Department Summary from 1975,
With White House Memcons on Damage Control
+++++++++++++
You guys gotta check these declassified documents out. Domestic surveillance of Anti War protesters is nothing new. They have been working in this manner since Nixon. We have all been living in a bubble or a lie if we think that the government knows much more than their letting on to about domestic surveillance.Agency Violated Charter for 25 Years,
Wiretapped Journalists and Dissidents
Update... more
-
-
jubal
-
added this
-
4 years ago
- |
