**
New post on *Scotty Starnes's Blog*
<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/author/scottystarnes/> Report:
Homeland Security Lied to Congress About Spying on US
Citizens<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/report-homeland-security-lied-to-congress-about-spying-on-us-citizens/>by
Scotty Starnes <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/author/scottystarnes/>
<http://scottystarnes.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/spy-gear-for-sale.jpg>
All this is
happening<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/google-twitter-and-facebook-spies-for-the-government/>under
the Obama administration, yet those who complained about Bush
listening to known terrorist associates are no longer screaming bloody
murder because it's their guy who is running the show. Yes, the Department
of Homeland Security has been caught in a lie. They are monitoring US
citizens<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/privacy-groups-sues-dhs-over-dhs-refusal-to-release-records-on-their-use-of-social-networks-to-spy-on-american-citizens/>,
including
journalists<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/department-of-homeland-security-monitoring-journalists/>,
who oppose Obama's agenda (or use certain
words<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/tweetingblogging-certain-words-like-drill-and-illegal-immigrant-could-draw-the-attention-of-government-spies/>)
with the assistance of Facebook,
Twitter<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/another-report-about-homeland-security-spying-on-americans-via-social-media-internet-news-blogs-gossip-websites/>and
other forms of social media.
DHS, under the Obama regime, believes US citizens are the
enemy<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/mistakenly-released-government-documents-claim-us-citizens-are-the-enemy-in-case-of-economic-collapse/>
.
>From
>RawStory.com<http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/secret-documents-reveal-dhs-lied-about-tracking-social-media/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29&flv=1>
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 <http://www.epic.org/> (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<http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DHS-Media-Monitoring-Ltr-02-22-12.pdf>
(PDF)
sent Wednesday to the ranking members of the House Subcommittee on
Counterterrorism and
Intelligence<http://homeland.house.gov/subcommittee-on-counterterrorism-and-intelligence>,
Ginger McCall, who directs EPIC’s Open Government Project, explains that
details within the document directly contradicttestimony given during the
hearing<http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony-Callahan-Chavez.pdf>
(PDF).
Altogether, the documents released by EPIC in January and in February
reveal that *the Department is paying defense contractorGeneral
Dynamics<http://www.gd-ais.com/> to
monitor the Internet for “reports that reflect adversely on DHS and
response activities,” including “reports that pertain to DHS and sub
agencies — especially those that have a negative spin on DHS/Component
preparation, planning, and response activities,” among other things.*
“The DHS testimony, as well as the documents obtained by EPIC, indicate
that the agency is monitoring constantly, under very broad search terms,
and is not limiting that monitoring to events or activities related to
natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or manmade disasters,” McCall
explained to lawmakers. “The monitoring is designed to be over-broad, and
sweeps in large amounts of First Amendment activity. The DHS has no legal
authority to engage in this monitoring.”
In an email exchange, DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler insisted that they
only monitor social media “for situational awareness purposes only, within
the clearly defined parameters articulated in our Privacy Impact
Assessment<http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_pia_ops_publiclyavailablesocialmedia_update.pdf>
(PDF),
to ensure that critical information reaches appropriate decision-makers.”
He added that the DHS will “review the language contained in all materials
to clearly and accurately convey the parameters and the intention of the
program.”
Documents published by EPIC show that *analysts were instructed to watch
for “both positive and negative reports” about the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS),
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), and the strangely wide-ranging “organizations outside of
DHS.” Other “items of interest” include discussions about immigration
policies, drug policies, cyber security matters, and U.S. foreign policy.*
About 300 pages of
documents<http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/files/EPIC-FOIA-DHS-Media-Monitoring-12-2012.pdf>
(PDF)
obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and published by EPIC
in January revealed that *analysts were specifically told to scour the
Internet and social networks like Facebook and Twitter in search of “any
media reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government,” and to zero
in on discussions criticizing government policies and proposals.*
Continue
reading>>><http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/secret-documents-reveal-dhs-lied-about-tracking-social-media/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29&flv=1>
*Scotty Starnes
<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/author/scottystarnes/>*| February
27, 2012 at 9:30 AM | Tags: Department
of Homeland
Security<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=department-of-homeland-security>,
DHS <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=dhs>,
EPIC<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=epic>,
FaceBook <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=facebook>, General
Dynamics <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=general-dynamics>, House
Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and
Intelligence<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=house-subcommittee-on-counterterrorism-and-intelligence>,
Obama regime <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=obama-regime>, spying
on US citizens<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=spying-on-us-citizens>,
The Electronic Privacy Information
Center<http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=the-electronic-privacy-information-center>,
Twitter <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?tag=twitter> |
Categories: Political
Issues <http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/?cat=35145> | URL:
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