Free Republic

The Department of Homeland Security 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. Congress provided partial funding for the program in a little-debated $634 billion spending measure that will fund the government until early March. For the past year, the Bush administration had been fighting Democratic lawmakers over the spy program, known as the National Applications Office. The program is designed to provide federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery -- but no eavesdropping --...

The U.S. drone aircraft involved in strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants across the border have enhanced tracking ability. WASHINGTON -- As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

This is the first of two stories adapted from "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency," to be published Tuesday by Penguin Press. EXCERPT: "The United States was at war with al-Qaeda, intelligence-gathering is inherent in war, and the Constitution appoints the president commander in chief. But they had not been asked to give their own written assessments of the legality of domestic espionage. They based their answer in part on the attorney general's certification of the "form and legality" of the president's orders. Yet neither man had been allowed to see the program's codeword-classified legal analyses [5], which were prepared by...

"THIS data allows investigators to identify suspects, examine their contacts, establish relationships between conspirators and place them in a specific location at a certain time." So said the UK Home Office last week as it announced plans to give law-enforcement agencies, local councils and other public bodies access to the details of people's text messages, emails and internet activity. The move followed its announcement in May that it was considering creating a massive central database to store all this data, as a tool to help the security services tackle crime and terrorism. Meanwhile in the US the FISA Amendments Act,...

We all heard about the person who sat next to traffic and pointed a hair dryer at oncoming cars to see their reactions.I tried it with illegal aliens and a throw away camera. I went to the local gathering places, Circle K, Home Depot, wherever they gather waiting for an early morning pick-up. The minute they saw the camera, they dispersed. Some ran, some wandered away, but the outcome was undeniable. They left!I decided to expand the experiment and took the camera to Wal-Mart. It worked there too! The illegals got out of the store and walked away. Some around...

More Federal Intelligence Changes Planned The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years. The proposed changes would revise the federal government's rules for police intelligence-gathering for the first time since 1993 and would apply to any of the nation's 18,000 state and local police agencies that receive roughly $1.6 billion each year in federal grants. Quietly unveiled late last month, the proposal is part of a flurry of...

If you're in Beijing for the Olympics kick starting this weekend, don't be spilling any beans (state secrets or otherwise) in your cab back to the hotel, because you're being listened to. As the WSJ is reporting, on your taxi's dash is a microphone that can be activated remotely, at any time and without the driver's knowledge, for a live listen into any one of Beijing's estimated 70,000 cabs. And then, if the folks on the other end don't like what they hear, they can take things even further.The GPS-equipped devices also allow for remote disabling by "cutting off...

Bluetooth Big Brother uses mobiles and laptops to track thousands of Britons Last updated at 12:04pm on 21.07.08    Thousands of people in Bath are unaware their movements may have been tracked through their bluetooth mobiles Thousands of Britons' movements have been covertly tracked by scanners placed in streets, pubs and offices for a technology experiment.  The Cityware project run by the University of Bath has secretly placed scanners around the Somerset city, with the first 10 installed 2006. The scanners pick up bluetooth radio signals transmitted from mobile phones and laptops. In a scene reminiscent of the Will Smith...

Hey, it's politics. In the primary, when Barack Obama wanted to connect with his party's disaffected left, he said that he would support a filibuster to stop a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act if it granted retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that had cooperated with the federal government after the 9/11 attacks. Now Obama has those voters in the bag. So he is reaching out to the majority of Americans who want aggressive international surveillance to prevent another terrorist attack. And the average voter certainly isn't going to lose sleep if the price of that security is that...

Great post at Protein Wisdom pointing out the contrast between the rhetoric of “domestic spying” and the reality of FISA–that tapped phones on international calls can save lives, stop terrorists, and rescue hostages: The stunning rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors owed its success not just to artful deception, but also to a five-year U.S.-Colombian operation that choked their captors’ ability to communicate. Known as “Alliance,” it began with a satellite phone call in 2003, just weeks after the Americans’ surveillance plane crashed in the southern Colombian jungle, according to U.S. and Colombian investigators and court documents....

Local toll road activist Terri Hall, the Spring Branch home schooling mom who's campaign against toll roads made her WOAI's San Antonian of the Year for 2007,. is taking her populist campaign nationwide. Hall is among the speakers for Saturday's 'Freedom March,' in Washington DC, organized by supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, and designed to keep alive his message of smaller government and vigilance against encroaching government power. "They wanted someone to speak about the Trans Texas Corridor, and what's happening here, and the eminent domain abuses, and how all these toll roads are tied to corporate...

Senate passes Electronic Surveillance Bill 69-28

WASHINGTON — More than two and a half years after the disclosure of President’s Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program set off a furious national debate, the Senate gave final approval on Wednesday afternoon to broadening the government’s spy powers and providing legal immunity for the phone companies that took part in the wiretapping program. The plan, approved by a vote of 69 to 28, marked one of Mr. Bush’s most hard-won legislative victories in a Democratic-led Congress where he has had little success of late. And it represented a stinging defeat for opponents on the left who had urged Democratic leaders...

Getting FISA Wrong . . . Again By Andrew C. McCarthy National Review Online July 5, 2008 Originally published at web site: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWFmYTZmNzYyNDhlN2ZjMDVlZGFjODdlYzRiOWZjNzY= A federal court in California has dismissed a civil lawsuit that alleged surveillance violations against a Muslim charity the government has formally designated as supporter of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, in his ill-conceived 56-page opinion, Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, of the district court in San Francisco, gets to the right result only after concluding that Congress has the power to preempt the president’s constitutional authority. Judge Walker found that the 1978 FISA statute (the...

ERMA — Lower Township Police Chief Edward Donohue announced that the Department of Homeland Security will provide the Lower Township police with a Real Time Video Surveillance System through the U.S. Army’s Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program, or CEDAP. Donohue stated that the police department applied to the Army’s CEDAP Program last year for the system. The system consists of several cameras that can feedback live video to police headquarters or vehicles from several miles away. Donohue states the system will be utilized for police surveillance operations, tactical operations, and to monitor critical infrastructure as needed. For security reasons, Donohue...

A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the "exclusive" means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law....

It's official: Thanks to overwhelming grassroots action, and the heroic efforts of Senators Dodd and Feingold, the Senate's vote on whether to grant phone companies immunity from the law for assisting in the President's illegal wiretapping program has been delayed until after July 4th Recess! This is an unexpected reprieve for civil liberties and the rule of law. As recently as last night, the mainstream press was reporting that the immunity bill would see swift and uncontested approval. Senate Leaders emphasized that passing an immunity bill this week was one of their highest priorities. And yet, in the end, the...

A White House-backed spy bill to protect telecommunication companies from billions of dollars in possible privacy lawsuits passed a Senate test vote on Wednesday and headed toward final congressional approval. Supporters of the bipartisan measure, which would also implement the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. spy laws in decades, mustered the needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to clear a procedural roadblock.

Public surveillance video mushrooms despite lack of evidence it works After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, local governments across the country set aside concerns over privacy and installed surveillance cameras in public streets and plazas. Now — even after a damning report by the head of London’s extensive surveillance network and with little evidence that the systems work — police in many cities are trying to add thousands more cameras to their networks. “‘Cameras Everywhere’ continues to be the best description of the trend in the video surveillance market,” security market analysts J.P. Freeman Co. said in a...

Move-On.org is taking a firm stand on a campaign promise that Barack Obama made that said he would filibuster any wiretapping bill that had retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that let the feds listen in on. MoveOn says in the letter “We need him to honor that promise.” The posting urges supporters to tell Obama how they feel by calling his presidential campaign to let him know that “you’re counting on him to keep his word.” Last Friday Obama announced his support for the intelligence surveillance law that is highly unpopular with most left activists; the money, momentum and votes...

Mini flying saucer takes to the skies in Beijing Chinese company Harbin Smart Special Aerocraft has spent 12 years and over $4 million developing its unmanned flying saucers. Somewhat reminiscent of the Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle, the unmanned drone has propellers that run on methanol, a top speed of around 50mph, and can stay at an altitude of around 1,000 yards up for 40 minutes or so. Expect to see it being used for aerial photography, geological surveys and in people's LSD-fueled weird-outs. [DVICE]

House approves spy bill protecting phone firms Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:52pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that could shield phone companies that participated in President George W. Bush's warrantless surveillance program begun after the September 11 attacks from billions of dollars in privacy lawsuits.

Weak, timid, spineless. Those are a few words to describe Congress as it prepares to back President Bush's plans to justify his warrantless spying on Americans. What's billed as a compromise measure to codify rules on antiterrorist surveillance is too tame by half. The agreement kowtows in important ways to Bush's overwrought view that the war of terror cannot be bound by judicial oversight or the Bill of Rights. At issue is a bid by the White House to legitimize its covert eavesdropping on communications between this country and overseas. Under a 1978 law, such surveillance needed the approval a...

U.S. President George Bush has praised Congress for its bipartisan cooperation on domestic surveillance and new war funding. At the White House Friday, Mr. Bush called on the House of Representatives to pass the domestic surveillance legislation Friday. He urged the Senate to take it up quickly. House and Senate leaders agreed on a compromise bill Thursday. The measure, which permits the government to eavesdrop on the communications of suspected terrorists without first obtaining a court's permission, could also protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits stemming from their involvement in the controversial warrantless surveillance. Federal judges could dismiss lawsuits if companies...

Congress will pass long-delayed FISA reform legislation as early as tomorrow after key members of the House reached a compromise on a series of issues. The compromise has the backing of House leadership, the White House, and the telecommunications companies fearful of an endless series of lawsuits from their earlier cooperation with the NSA. This bill will permanently update FISA legislation to encompass what became known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, as well as modernize it to eliminate the archaic language that required warrants for international communications: After more than a year of partisan acrimony over government surveillance powers, Democratic...

The Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) Program will develop and demonstrate an extremely small (less than 7.5 cm), ultra-lightweight (less than 10 grams) air vehicle system with the potential to perform indoor and outdoor military missions. The program will explore novel, bio-inspired, conventional and unconventional configurations to provide the warfighter with unprecedented capability for urban mission operations. The NAV Program will push the limits of aerodynamic and power conversion efficiency, endurance, and maneuverability for very small air vehicle systems. NAV platforms will be revolutionary in their ability to harness low Reynolds number physics, navigate in complex environments, and communicate over significant...

Taking its inspiration from the grasshopper, a tiny two-legged robot that stores elastic energy in springs has leaped 27 times its own height, smashing the record of 17 times set by a previous robot. Its creators hope that swarms of such hopping robots could spread out to explore disaster areas, or even the surfaces of other planets. The robot is only 5 centimetres tall, and weighs just 7 grams. A motor designed to power the vibration unit of a pager drives a system of gears that gradually wind two metal springs (see image, right).

"...just by walking down the street you could be subject to a personal biometric system, you could be scanned by the gateway of the transit system, there could be something embedded in the street or in the flooring beneath you... you could be touching other tangible interfaces in the environment around you... the lamp posts and the other features of the streetscape could have informational services... and last but not least there's the surveillance element, there's a UAV, a robotic helicopter which is also surveying the cityscape and communicating with all of these devices... This is really what I mean...

Republicans Making Concessions on FISA Surveillance RulesBy Pamela Hess, Associated Press May 23, 2008 Washington (AP) - A months-long logjam over a new government surveillance bill may be coming to an end, with Republicans offering a compromise that would let people who think they were illegally spied on by the government have their day in court -- albeit a secret one. House and Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their latest proposal aimed at resolving the roughly 40 civil lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies that allegedly cooperated in the so-called warrantless wiretapping program. The Republican proposal makes other concessions. It would:...

I'd like to ask my fellow FReepers what you think about the Presidential candidacy of Bob Barr? Given our current choices for President, Obama, Clinton & McCain, is Bob Barr a good alternative this year? I know no one will agree 100% with any candidate's positions. But, instead of not voting, would a vote for Bob Barr be an alternative you would consider? As a disappointed Republican, I'm considering going Libertarian this year. I like most of their positins, especially on safeguarding Liberty for All. I'm tired of carrying Big Brother with me everywhere I go. I'd like to see...

A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials. The information would be held for at least 12 months and the police and security services would be able to access it if given permission from the courts. The proposal will raise further alarm about a “Big Brother” society, as it follows plans for vast databases...

Imagine trying to go about your business every day, walking around the city with a stranger dogging your steps, hovering within inches of your face and constantly taking your picture. How furious would you be if you complained to police and were told you had to tolerate such behavior because there is no expectation of privacy in public? Reasonable people would argue that there is a difference between observation and intrusion: One expects to be observed on the street; one does not expect to be stalked. Indeed, the law makes such a distinction. So if stalking is illegal for citizens,...

After entering the House of Representatives in 1995, Georgia Republican Bob Barr acquired a reputation as one of the most conservative members of Congress. It was Barr who in 1996 wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, which said states didn't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states; it was Barr who protested when he learned the military allowed soldiers to practice Wicca. A former federal prosecutor, a firm social conservative, and a strong supporter of the War on Drugs, Barr doesn't fit most people's image of a civil libertarian. But in his eight years in Congress (he failed...

For more than two months, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has denied members of that chamber the opportunity to vote on one of the most important pieces of national security legislation before Congress this year. That legislation is a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate in February that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies which helped the government monitor terrorist communications after September 11. So, House Republicans, led by Reps. Vito Fossella and Peter King of New York, are seeking to get around this obstructionism by employing a "discharge petition." If 218 House members sign the petition, the House would...

Americans' civil liberties as established in the Bill of Rights are seriously in danger, says Bob Barr. So much so, he says, that it prompted the Smyrna resident and former member of Congress to consider a bid for president as a Libertarian. "There is one set of issues that ought to be discussed during a presidential campaign - the Bill of Rights, what are our liberties, what are our freedoms and how can we protect these liberties," Barr said in an interview Monday at his office for his consulting firm, Liberty Strategies, near the Cobb Galleria. "I'm interested in working...

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.), the House Democrats’ point man in negotiations on an overhaul of intelligence surveillance law, is keeping his eye on conservative Blue Dog Democrats who might defect on the issue under Republican pressure. The topic has reached a critical point because surveillance orders granted by the director of national intelligence and the attorney general under the authority of the Protect America Act begin to expire in August. If Congress does not approve an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by Memorial Day, intelligence community officials will have to prepare dozens of individual surveillance warrants,...

The head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, Ernst Uhrlau, is under pressure over a surveillance operation which targeted a whole ministry in the Afghan government. The scandal raises serious questions about the BND's ability to police itself. **** It was an extravagant promise, one delivered in a state of contriteness. Ernst Uhrlau, the president of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), said in a 2006 interview: "When it comes to the private sphere of a journalist, then I have to draw the line." The agency, he said, had "gone too far" and, in the future, "absolute respect for the...

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates established a new task force last week to ensure the Defense Department is doing everything possible to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to support warfighters, he announced today. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, at podium, speaks to students of the Air War College and the Air Command and Staff College in Polifka Auditorium, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., April 21, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by Cherie Cullen   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates told officers at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., he created  the task force...

A council has used powers intended for anti-terrorism surveillance to spy on a family who were wrongly accused of lying on a school application form. For two weeks the middle-class family was followed by council officials who wanted to establish whether they had given a false address within the catchment area of an oversubscribed school to secure a place for their three-year-old. The "spies" made copious notes on the movements of the mother and her three children, who they referred to as "targets" as they were trailed on school runs. The snoopers even watched the family home at night to...

The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department's new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities -- such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps. Sophisticated overhead sensor data will be used for law enforcement once privacy and civil rights concerns are resolved, he said. The department has previously said...

Last month, the House amended the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expand the government’s ability to monitor our private communications. This measure, if it becomes law, will result in more warrantless government surveillance of innocent American citizens. Though some opponents claimed that the only controversial part of this legislation was its grant of immunity to telecommunications companies, there is much more to be wary of in the bill. In the House version, Title II, Section 801, extends immunity from prosecution of civil legal action to people and companies including any provider of an electronic communication service, any provider...

Dogs have long been used by police forces to detect drugs and explosives. But now animals and machines are being trained and developed to sniff out a person's potential for aggression, if they are feeling guilty - even their race. I was walking into Fulham Broadway underground station a couple of years ago when I saw police officers holding dogs on leashes, encouraging them to sniff the crotches of passing commuters. What, I asked one of the policemen, was the purpose of this operation? "I can't say," he replied.

“We knew that there had been a call from someplace that was known to be a safe house in Afghanistan and we knew that it came to the United States. We didn’t know precisely where it went. We’ve got 3,000 people who went to work that day, and didn’t come home, to show for that.” — Attorney General Michael Mukasey, speaking last week “in Nancy Pelosi’s hometown.” AG Michael Mukasey revealed new, stunning information: he now knows precisely to whom that call was made. As 13 of the 15 muscle hijackers came late and knew little, that call undoubtedly was...

CCTV cameras to be used to issue parking tickets Last updated at 20:22pm on 24.03.08    New regulations: Councils will have the power to use video footage to issue fines where it is deemed impractical for wardens to hand out tickets CCTV cameras will be used to enforce parking restrictions and issue tickets under regulations due to come into force next week. Councils will be given the power to use video footage to hand out fines where it is deemed impractical for traffic wardens to issue tickets in person.A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport (DfT) said it would...

Nox Defense creates chips (and even RFID Dust) for tracking property and people An employee looking to steal confidential information from his employer sneaks into what should be a secure back room after hours. He pulls charts and files from a top-level financial meeting and slides them into his briefcase before heading back out. What the insider doesn't know is that his shoes picked up hundreds of tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that had been scattered across the floor. As he passes by an RFID reader near the front door of his office building, security will be alerted that...

This is the latest canard making the rounds — I heard a radio talk-show guy say it this morning, and one of the endless stream of former federal prosecutors suggested it on MSNBC last night (I had switched channels following Jeffrey Toobin's botched explanation of the money-laundering offense known as "structuring" — the cash transaction amount that triggers the reporting requirement is $10K, not, as Toobin stated, $5K.) Currency transaction reporting requirements were enacted in the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, and money laundering was made a crime in overhaul of the federal narcotics laws that took place in 1986....

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday said the House of Representatives was drawing up a new wiretap law that would hamper their job of protecting the people. The bill is a new attempt at reviving a post-September 11 law that expired last month allowing government spying on foreign telephone calls and electronic correspondence without first seeking a warrant. The White House and the Democrat-led Congress are at loggerheads over the issue of liability for telecommunications companies participating in the wiretap program. The House let the law expire on February...

A CAMERA that can see through people’s clothing at distances of up to 80ft has been developed to help detect weapons, drugs and explosives. The camera could be deployed in railway stations, shopping centres and other public spaces. Although it can see objects under clothes, its designers say the images do not show anatomical details. However, it is likely to increase fears that Britain has become a surveillance society. The new technology, known as the T5000 system, has attracted interest from police forces, train companies and airport operators as well as government agencies. It has been developed by ThruVision, an...

Listen Up Should the telecoms be punished for helping protect you from terrorists? By Clifford D. May Are you outraged? You’re supposed to be, according to Peter Eliasberg, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, “everybody in the country” may have had their phone calls “combed through” for terrorist connections and, if that happened, Eliasberg told the Washington Post, “lots of people will be outraged.” Would you be among them? Or would you, like me, be relieved to know that on at least this occasion, the government did its job?...

'Microdrone', the police's tiny eye in the sky By Tom Chivers and agencies Last Updated: 2:14am GMT 08/03/2008 In size and appearance it may resemble a toy - and the fact that it can squirt a jet of water on to unsuspecting people's heads may add to that impression - but this is in fact a £25,000 hi-tech crime-fighting machine. A remote-controlled and almost silent miniature helicopter, the "Microdrone" can act as a police commander's eye in the sky, capturing images with both a video and an infra-red camera and instantly transmitting it to operators on the ground up to...