U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens

This articles provides a lot more information on this topic that was discussed briefly yesterday in another article.

By JULIA ANGWIN
Excerpt"

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Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

Not everyone was on board. "This is a sea change in the way that the government interacts with the general public," Mary Ellen Callahan, chief privacy officer of the Department of Homeland Security, argued in the meeting, according to people familiar with the discussions.

A week later, the attorney general signed the changes into effect.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews with officials at numerous agencies, The Wall Street Journal has reconstructed the clash over the counterterrorism program within the administration of President Barack Obama. The debate was a confrontation between some who viewed it as a matter of efficiency—how long to keep data, for instance, or where it should be stored—and others who saw it as granting authority for unprecedented government surveillance of U.S. citizens.

The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them. That is a departure from past practice, which barred the agency from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or related to an investigation.


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In May 2011, Ms. Callahan and Ms. Schlanger raised their concerns with the chief of their agency, Janet Napolitano. They fired off a memo under the longwinded title, "How Best to Express the Department's Privacy and Civil Liberties Concerns over Draft Guidelines Proposed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center," according to an email obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The contents of the memo, which appears to run several pages, were redacted.

The two also kept pushing the NCTC officials to justify why they couldn't search for terrorism clues less invasively, these people said. "I'm not sure I'm totally prepared with the firestorm we're about to create," Ms. Schlanger emailed Ms. Callahan in November, referring to the fact that the two wanted more privacy protections. Ms. Schlanger returned to her faculty position at the University of Michigan Law School soon after but remains an adviser to Homeland Security.

To resolve the issue, Homeland Security's deputy secretary, Jane Holl Lute, requested the March meeting at the White House. The second in command from Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the FBI, NCTC and the office of the director of national intelligence sat at the small conference table. Normal protocol for such meeting is for staffers such as Ms. Callahan to sit against the walls of the room and keep silent.

By this point, Ms. Libin's concern that innocent people could be inadvertently targeted had been largely overruled at the Department of Justice, these people said. Colleagues there were more concerned about missing the next terrorist threat.

That left Ms. Callahan as the most prominent opponent of the proposed changes. In an unusual move, Ms. Lute asked Ms. Callahan to speak about Homeland Security's privacy concerns. Ms. Callahan argued that the rules would constitute a "sea change" because, whenever citizens interact with the government, the first question asked will be, are they a terrorist?

Mr. Brennan considered the arguments. And within a few days, the attorney general, Eric Holder, had signed the new guidelines. The Justice Department declined to comment about the debate over the guidelines.

Under the new rules, every federal agency must negotiate terms under which it would hand over databases to NCTC. This year, Ms. Callahan left Homeland Security for private practice, and Ms. Libin left the Justice Department to join a private firm.

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There is a ton of background info the WSJ obtained on the internals of this mess at the article link.

imho,

essentially that's been a reality for [B]AT LEAST[/B] 40 YEARS.

These blokes:

p://reality101blog.blogspot.ca/2009/06/1...onsider-us.html

have had all the power and technology under their control for a LOT LONGER than that.

And they have monitored all electricity based circuits 24/7 worldwide for at least 40 years with literally acres of computers. I believe Pine G in Australia has been one such site. Obviously the new site in Utah will be a major one. I think there's one in Europe.

I have no doubt of the above facts given . . . givens in my background.

I agree Q, now they are emboldened to the point that they no longer feel the need to hide it.

Quote: FP123 wrote in post #3

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I agree Q, now they are emboldened to the point that they no longer feel the need to hide it.

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Quote: Quix wrote in post #4

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Quote: FP123 wrote in post #3

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I agree Q, now they are emboldened to the point that they no longer feel the need to hide it.

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Right.

They believe. . . with good cause . . . that they are

soooooooooooo far down the train track to an overt global tyrannical government literally from hell

that nothing can stop them.

And they kind of seem to enjoy flaunting their evils and rubbing it in our faces.

. . . kind of torturing the ants before stomping them out . . . kind of mentality.

REAL SWEET.

They are Slugs from hell's lower cesspools, obvioiusly.

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INDEED . . . CUE GAITHERS . . .

THE KING IS COMING . . .

Quote: FP123 wrote in post #5

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Quote: Quix wrote in post #4

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Quote: FP123 wrote in post #3

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I agree Q, now they are emboldened to the point that they no longer feel the need to hide it.

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Right.

They believe. . . with good cause . . . that they are

soooooooooooo far down the train track to an overt global tyrannical government literally from hell

that nothing can stop them.

And they kind of seem to enjoy flaunting their evils and rubbing it in our faces.

. . . kind of torturing the ants before stomping them out . . . kind of mentality.

REAL SWEET.

They are Slugs from hell's lower cesspools, obvioiusly.

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Just had a couple of cups of coffee and a nice chat with my Pastor.

"P A T I E N C E" was his answer across a whole host of items discussed, including the above.

Those that have read the Book know how it plays out in the end!

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