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Homeland Security's Space-Based Spying Goes Live

BountyX writes "While America's attention has shifted to the economic meltdown and the presidential race between corporate favorites John McCain and Barack Obama, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Applications Office (NAO) 'will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though an independent review found the department hasn't yet ensured the program will comply with privacy laws.' NAO will coordinate how domestic law enforcement and 'disaster relief' agencies such as FEMA use satellite imagery intelligence (IMINT) generated by US spy satellites. Based on available evidence, hard to come by since these programs are classified 'above top secret,' the technological power of these military assets are truly terrifying."

4 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Boon to law-enforcement by T3hD0gg · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If you didn't do anything wrong, then what do you have to hide?

  2. Re:Eyeroll by AmericanPegasus · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Unfortunately, although you may be technically be right, it doesn't help that the link you provide clearly shows a level of security above 'Top Secret'. Claim that SCI is just a subset of Top Secret all you want, but the fact remains that there are programs out there who's classification level itself is a secret, so if you're not only not allowed to know that the program exists, but also not allowed to know how secret it is... that might be above knowing that something is 'Top Secret'.

  3. The obvious reality... by tjstork · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Is that the government has just awarded a top secret no-bid contract to Google Earth so that they are the only ones pay 72 billion dollars for the state of the art in web based intelligence that the rest of us just use for free.

    --
    This is my sig.
  4. Really? by voraciousreader · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "You do not get to come up with an arbitratry third category of "didn't break the law but I still don like him" and then persecute people in that category..."

    Unless that person is a racist. Or a sexist. Or a homophobe...

    Now that I think about it, yes actually, we do get to do that, or at least, it's being done, despite what you seem to think.