Secret documents reveal DHS lied about tracking Americans on social media

[kpete]

One of the nation’s leading electronic privacy groups claimed this week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) misled members of Congress during a recent hearing on whether the Department is paying a defense contractor $11.4 million to keep tabs on protected free speech and dissent against government policies on the Internet.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which triggered the hearing by publishing a trove of secret government documents in January, told Raw Story on Thursday that a second round of documents they’ve obtained directly contradicts testimony given on Feb. 16, showing that the DHS instructed their analysts to do exactly what the Department denied.

“There were several exchanges that they had with members of Congress in which they sort of distanced themselves from the idea — that they weren’t engaging in this monitoring of public reaction to government proposals,” McCall told Raw Story. “But that’s… Well, it’s not true, according to the documents we obtained.”

In a letter (PDF) sent Wednesday to the ranking members of the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Ginger McCall, who directs EPIC’s Open Government Project, explains that details within the document directly contradict testimony given during the hearing (PDF).
...............

more:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/secret-documents-reveal-dhs-lied-about-tracking-social-media/

[think]

1. DHS will spend $47 billion in 2012 on shit like this, the TSA, and militarizing

America's police forces. Obama needs to get rid of this agency.

It was created by the failed Bush administration along with the Patriot Act to turn America into a police state. We never needed it as the intel was readily available had the Bush administration chosen to act on it. It is just a drain on the American economy and our civil rights.

This is one area where Obama really needs to step up to the plate, take on this abusive agency, and get it out of our money and our lives.

[RKP5637]

2. A hidden world, growing beyond control and $$$$$$$$$ in spending ... Top Secret America!

See>>> http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/?du

"A hidden world, growing beyond control

The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of 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.

These are some of the findings of a two-year investigation by The Washington Post that discovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight. 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 investigation's other findings include:

* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.

* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.

* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space."

More at>>> http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/?du

[Vattel]

4. We must worship at the alter of national security.

[BlueIris]

18. Jesus. 854,000 have that clearance? Why even bother to call it Top 'Secret'? nt

[RKP5637]

20. Amazing, isn't it ... getting so one is considered un-American if they don't have that clearance.

[IamK]

9. President Obama is pumping money into DHS.... Secret wars and internal spying is his thing...

He also loves the Predator....

[Hestia]

14. Any other timeline any other choice, would Obama be at the top of the list of candidates?

No, for the true news main liners, no, he's made too many questionable choices, such as the OP, that if there was a true Democrat to vote for this person. This is who has been chosen for us, to appease us, to pretend there is a choice. Truly sad isn't it?

[RKP5637]

21. Yeah, it sure seems that way more and more, as you say, "This is who has been chosen for us,

to appease us, to pretend there is a choice."

[Auntie Bush]

30. You think Dem's have it bad...What about the ReThugs...they don't even like any other Thugs.

[Roy Rolling]

17. DHS?

The DHS is the American version of the Nazi Gestapo and Soviet KGB. The creation and expansion of that department is a giant contributor the budget deficit problem in the U.S.

I agree with the other poster...abolish the DHS and TSA.

[gratuitous]

3. Oh, you're all just being paranoid

And some of you type really, really slow.

[peacebird]

5. Hey! I bet we could balance the budget much sooner if we just pruned this bit out of it!

dHS and TSA both - and good riddance!

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

[snot]

8. K&R'd, and thanks to kpete for being one who so often posts impt. news.

[just1voice]

10. I watched a Nazi Germany special about "The Homeland" the other night

It's still amazes me that people put up with the name "Homeland Security" after the atrocities of WWII.

[Dont call me Shirley]

28. And it was created by the grandson of the nazi funder prescot bush.

Heh, heh, mission accomplished grandaddy, Heh, heh.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

11. Keep tabs on this!

My disgust and contempt for our present government continues to grow after watching it for seventy years.
Monitor that!

[EFerrari]

24. If this interests you, you might also be interested in Jim Zogby's last Viewpoint show.

It should be up on the net soon and iirc, replayed on LinkTv over the weekend.

There are three segments. The first and last went into great detail about how the FBI is "ethnic mapping" not only Muslims in NYC, but all kinds of groups all over the country. The first guest was a former government official, Mike German (maybe from NSA, I don't remember that) and the last is Matt Apuzzo, an AP reporter who first broke the FBI story. Apuzzo was one of the main reporters who simply repeated what FBI said about Bruce Ivins. He has since found his skepticism.

[pacalo]

12. Their list of designated media contacts was interesting.

Of particular interest is the fact that the NYTimes was not included.

Also, notice in the "Second Tier" that MoveOn.org & Amnesty International are considered "obviously partisan or agenda-driven sites", while DrudgeReport.com, located in the "Fourth Tier", is identified as one of the "news collection/compilation sites" & is weirdly grouped with NationalTerrorAlert.com, DisasterNews.net, Opensourceintelligence.org, HomelandSecurityToday.com. DrudgeReport.com -- along with Fox News & the Sun, for that matter -- is not listed under the "obviously partisan or agenda-driven sites" category!


Here's the list of DHS contacts:

Department of Homeland Security -- Analyst's Desktop Binder

Page 14:

2.6 Credible Sources for Corroboration

First Tier –

A first tier source is one that does not typically need additional corroboration prior to release. Sources that construct the first tier platform include major news networks, such as CNN and Fox; major newspapers, such as USA Today and The Washington Post; and international news, such as the BBC and The International Herald Tribune. These sources do not typically need additional corroboration prior to release.

Major news networks (Television and Internet)

CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, Associated Press, Reuters (local affiliates of these major networks can be considered Tier 1 sources).
Local affiliates of major networks, preferably sourced by the wire services like AP or Reuters.

Major newspapers

Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, US News and World Report, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Boston Globe, Arizona Republic, San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit Free Press, Miami Herald.

Some major local/state newspapers are appropriate as well (New York Daily News, Chicago Sun Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Seattle Times, etc.).

International News

BBC, Sky News, UPI (United Press International), IHT (International Herald Tribune), AFP (Agence France-Presse), Asian Times Online, Al Jazeera English, Prensa Latina (Latin American News Agency), The Guardian, Le Monde (France), The Economist, Kyodo News (Japan), The Australian News, German News, Canada Free Press, Agenzia Italia, United News of India, EFE (Spain), ARI (Russian Information Agency).

Second Tier - Should ideally be verified by a First Tier source prior to release.

Government or specialized sites with a specific focus. Often includes .org’s, .net’s, and .com’s.

AllAfrica.com, Emergency and Disaster Management Service, GlobalSecurity.org, etc.

Obviously partisan or agenda-driven sites

MoveOn.org, Amnesty International, etc.

Third Tier – Must be verified by a First Tier source prior to release.

Tabloids (national and international)

The Sun (UK), National Enquirer, Star, etc.

Blogs, even if they are of a serious, political nature

Popular magazines

People Weekly, Washingtonian, etc.

Fourth Tier – Must be verified by a First Tier source prior to release

News collection/compilation sites

NationalTerrorAlert.com, DrudgeReport.com, DisasterNews.net, Opensourceintelligence.org, HomelandSecurityToday.com.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/secret-documents-reveal-dhs-lied-about-tracking-social-media/

[midnight]

13. 11.4 million spent to spy on us at the cost of having more children living in poverty.

[siligut]

15. The department of Homeland security lied?

Oh, tell me it isn't true

[allan01]

16. re: A hidden world, growing beyond control and $$$$$$$$$ in spending ... Top Secret America!

Ive asked this over the years , since when does national security supersceede human security? The national scecrets act needs to be repealed!!

[randome]

19. First it's 'lied'. Then 'misled'. Then they 'sort of distanced themselves from the idea'.

Hardly any smoking guns to be outraged about.

Do I want DHS spying on us? No. But until they are disbanded or replaced, it apparently is part of their job.

[sofa king]

22. I assume it was far worse than that.

Certainly I was not the only one who noticed in '04 that Karl Rove was spiking Kerry's next move two days before the Kerry camp made it.

[Octafish]

23. Why would DHS lie to Congress about monitoring political discussions?

Because that's what police states do. We wuz warned:

Frank Church and the Abyss of Warrantless Wiretapping

[RCL]

25. all that "profiling", "monitoring", "spying" ...

all that "profiling", "monitoring", "spying" ... has been going on for way longer and you don't have to be Muslim for that to "happen" to you. Just for stating the truth and/or questioning lies you will be targeted, even if it is by writing a poem:
~
http://hsymbolicus.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/16/ (lies ...)
~
and it is not just the NYPD, but the U.S. gov behind it.
~
http://ipsoscustodes.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/quis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes/
~
The U.S. has become a police state and I think this is for good. They have hired all those "psychology graduates" for their thought police a la 1984. Basically they have turned from the MTA and barbershops to University Departments into snitching cells. I research on semiotics and one of the themes I follow is state repression
~
Ricardo Camilo López

[Uncle Joe]

26. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[felix_numinous]

27. DHS-dedicated to protecting the 1%

--corporate white collar crime, war profiteering, and bank fraud abound and are not considered a threat to national security, because these people are a part of it.

Drug and arms smuggling cartels are flourishing and are an international threat--thanks to the war on drugs. These secret agencies thrive on manufactured conflict and paranoid fantasies, and have ruined whole regions because they have enabled the supportive systems of crime to thrive instead of cutting off their means of making money.

They are the domestic arm of the MIC and have a vested interest in creating conflict--this is what the MIC has done in every country they go into, and now they are doing their work on the US.

[IDemo]

29. I have to believe that the scale of this is much larger

What possible purpose could installations like this have? -> http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12735293

And - The agency is building a similar center in San Antonio at the site of a former Sony microchip plant.

[annabanana]

31. The cloning of Agent Mike

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[Downtown Hound]

32. Hey DHS! Quit watching my porn habits!

[Quantess]

33. K & R