Annual Surveillance Edition
Logos Radio Network Money Bomb!
Live Free speech radio!
Go chip in and help these patriots so that they can continue to
bring you the great programming and uncensored content that
they have so generously provided their listeners with for years.
www.Logosradionetwork.com
At 3,265
-the ability to conceal one's identity
while communicating
“Anonymity is a shield from
the tyranny of the majority
?
... It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the
Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in
particular: to protect unpopular individuals
from retaliation--and their ideas from
suppression--at the hand of an intolerant
society.“McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm’n, 514 U.S. 334
Morris Hymes, Head of the ID Assurance Directorate at the Defense Department says that;
“We need to recognize the change that is occurring in society,” “Society,” he said, “is
taking away the privilege of anonymity.”
Donald Kerr senior US intelligence official tells us that;
“at this time privacy can no longer mean anonymity”
As 2012 draws to a close. . here at team Advox, we've decided to
suggest 10 resolutions for 2013, presented in the form of a review
of the tools and strategies to protect yourself online.
This is a selection of the best ways and methods we've come across
in 2012. Remember that no one tactic will ever provide you with
100% security and safety online. At all times, stay armed with your
common sense.
10 New Year's Resolutions to Browse the
Internet Safely in 2013
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/1
2/31/10-new-years-resolutions-to-browse-theinternet-safely-in-2013/
The Balance of Power
Individual Opacity
Information is POWER
(privacy)
Personal Freedom
High
Liberty & Justice
•
•
•
•
Government Control
Low
Independence
Economic Prosperity
Innovation
Political and social
participation
Re-Balancing of Power
Government Control High
Opacity
Transparency
Personal Freedom Low of the Individual
We Lost The War by: Frank Rieger
“We had a reasonable chance to tame the wild beast of universal surveillance
technology, approximately until september 10th, 2001. One day later, we had
lost.
All the hopes we had, to keep the big corporations and “security forces” at bay
and develop interesting alternative concepts in the virtual world, evaporated
with the smoke clouds of the World Trade Center. . . .We are now deep inside
the other kind of future, the future that we speculated about as a worst case
scenario, back then. This is the ugly future, the one we never wanted, the one
that we fought to prevent. We failed. Probably it was not even our fault. But
we are forced to live in it now.”
http://frank.geekheim.de/?page_id=128
Everyone is dispirited. . .(Word to the wise-Now is NOT the time to
watch Les Mis!
https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2011.pdf
Despair and Resistance
CASPIAN model-as capitalists, we often have
more power as consumers than voters. Hit
them in their wallets!
Individual Resistance-the courts,
Subtle (or not so subtle) non-compliance or
Collective Resistance-
Nathan Allonby:
"Simultaneous introduction of biometric, smart ID cards
around the world is not just a coincidence, it is not merely
due to nations copying effective schemes in other
nations, and is not just a phenomenon related to the
sudden maturity of technology. Implementation of these
ID card schemes was pushed. It is being driven in a
coordinated programme, via international organisations
and conferences, led by the US and the European Union
(EU).“
Podcast interview with James Corbett, 2010
http://www.corbettreport.com/mp3/2010-0109%20Nathan%20Allonby.mp3
“If one term embodies the paradoxical and contradictory character of Anonymous—which is
now serious in action and frivolous by design; made up of committed activists and agents of
mischief—it is lulz”
“Today Anonymous is associated with an irreverent, insurgent
brand of activist politics”
“What sets Anonymous apart is its fluid membership and organic political evolution, along
with its combination of feral tricksterism and expert online organizing.”
“It’s not a group, it’s an idea. You won’t be met with a welcome wagon but that is
because no one owns it. It’s the evolution of activism and it’s yours.” --KB
. . . it also offers an object lesson in what Frankfurt School
philosopher Ernst Bloch calls “the principle of hope.”
Stop Biometric ID! Kaye
Beach Needs Your
Support for Lawsuit
This is a money bomb to raise funds for
my lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma
for the unwarranted collection of my
biometric data. (More information below)
The date is Jan 18th but you can donate
anytime you like.
Please, support my lawsuit to stop
mandatory biometric enrollment!
You may make a donation online through
Paypal.com (you don't have to have a
PayPal account, just a credit/debit card)
To do so, all you need is my email, which
is axxiomforliberty@gmail.com or use this
link;
https://www.paypal.com/cgibin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=axxiomforliberty%40gm
ail.com&lc=US&item_name=Kaye+Beach+Legal+Defense+Fun
d&currency_code=USD&bn=PPDonationsBF%3Abtn_donateCC_LG.gif%3ANonHosted
READ MORE https://www.facebook.com/events/450899124971229/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Jacob Appelbaum 29C3 Keynote: Not My
Department
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNsePZj
_Yks
Jacob Appelbaum, a Seattle-based
programmer for the online privacy
protection project called Tor
In his speech he talks about NSA storage
facilities, drone attacks, the patriot act,
surveillance states (and much more) why this
affects you and why this is your department.
Quoting a British author, "To be free from
suspicion is one of the first freedoms that is
important for being free in the rest of your
life"
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20012253245.html
Twitter 101: How should I get started using Twitter?
https://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitterbasics/topics/104-welcome-to-twittersupport/articles/215585-twitter-101-how-should-i-getstarted-using-twitter#
Oklahoma listener: If you do twitter, I have found some Oklahoma Anonymous people
on Twitter you might want to follow;
@OkieAnonymous @AnonOklahoma @DustBowlAnon @okieanon
On Facebook: “Anonymous Oklahoma”
SOCIAL MEDIA and ACTIVISM
Disciplined and coordinated groups, whether businesses or governments, have always had
an advantage over undisciplined ones: they have an easier time engaging in collective
action because they have an orderly way of directing the action of their members.
Social media can compensate for the disadvantages of undisciplined
groups by reducing the costs of coordination.
SHARED AWARENESS
For political movements, one of the main forms of coordination is what the military calls
"shared awareness," the ability of each member of a group to not only understand the
situation at hand but also understand that everyone else does, too. Social media increase
shared awareness by propagating messages through social networks.
the dictator's dilemma
This condition of shared awareness -- which is increasingly evident in all modern states -creates what is commonly called "the dictator's dilemma“
The dilemma is created by new media that increase public access to speech or assembly;
with the spread of such media, whether photocopiers or Web browsers, a state
accustomed to having a monopoly on public speech finds itself called to account for
anomalies between its view of events and the public's.
The Cute Cat Theory
Tools specifically designed for dissident use are politically easy for the
state to shut down, whereas tools in broad use become much harder to
censor without risking politicizing the larger group of otherwise
apolitical actors.
Ethan Zuckerman of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society calls this "the
cute cat theory of digital activism."
Specific tools designed to defeat state censorship (such as proxy servers) can be shut
down with little political penalty, but broader tools that the larger population uses to,
say, share pictures of cute cats are harder to shut down.
The Political Power of Social Media Technology, the Public Sphere, and
Political Change by Clay Shirky
http://www.gpia.info/files/u1392/Shirky_Political_Poewr_of_Social_M
edia.pdf
• Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in his dissent in the first Supreme Court wiretapping
case, Olmstead vs. United States (1928):
• “Discovery and invention have made it possible for the government, with means
far more effective than stretching upon the rack, to obtain disclosure in court of
what is whispered in the closet. … The progress of science in furnishing the
Government with means of espionage (on American citizens) is not likely to stop
with wiretapping.”
• “Ways may some day be developed,” Brandeis continued, “by which the
government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them
in court.” (He didn’t foresee the Patriot Act’s giving the FBI permission to sneak
into our homes when we aren’t there and photograph those papers.)
• The time did come, as Brandeis prophesied, when the government “will be
enabled to expose to a jury the intimate occurrences of the home” – and any of
our communications in almost any form, if this Obama legislation becomes and
remains law.
• Brandeis also warned –: “The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure
conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance
of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings, and of his intellect. … They sought to
protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their
sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone –
the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men. To
protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the
privacy of the individual, whatever the means employed, must be deemed a
violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
• http://www.wnd.com/2010/10/211885/
5 Levels of SurveillanceNotice
• the Role of Government
• Attitude of the Public
Is Policy driven by Principle or Practice?
• Amount of personal information held by
government and degree of database linking.
Level 1
RESTRICTED SURVEILLANCE
level 2
CONDITIONAL SURVEILLANCE
Least intrusive zone of surveillance, Rare,
An Ideal
• Government is small
• Private enterprise respectful of
individual privacy
• Law, policy based on principle
(Constitution) focused on protection
of rights
• Boundaries respected-sovereignty,
jurisdictions and separation of powers
• Minimal collection of personal
information. Large databases
uncommon.
• Society understands and respects
rights of individuals. Civically aware
and exerts a positive influence on
policy
The government has an unobtrusive
role in society
Considered the norm for western
democratic societies
•
Surveillance generally regarded as an
undesirable practice, only exercised by
govt. after examination of principle,
adequate public debate and only then
with proper safeguards in place.
•
Records are maintained within
individual departments, general linkage
between agencies is not permitted.
Access based on right to know.
•
Attitude of Good Faith is maintained
between the government and the
public.
The role of government agencies is
essentially one of serving the public
Level 3
ROUTINE SURVEILLANCE
Level 4
MASS SURVEILLANCE
Mass surveillance established
Enforced, interactive and
punitive surveillance.
1.Law enforcement
2.Taxation
3.Government Benefits
• Linkage between these 3 sectors
occurs on a case by case basis when
there is suspicion or evidence of
wrongdoing
• Public mostly accepts the idea that a
certain amount of monitoring is a
reasonable trade-off in exchange for a
desired end.
• General public support for some
surveillance, public still retains
awareness of individual rights
• Govt. relationship with the community
still retains a basis of trust
Governmental bodies have assumed
the role of agents of public interest
•
•
•
•
•
Numerous systems and infrastructure
developed for monitoring most
aspects of people's movement,
transactions, interactions and
associations.
Most computer systems are
interlinked.
Records and files of citizens are
routinely and automatically
matched against each other to detect
inconsistencies.
Interests of Revenue, Security and
Law Enforcement provide powerful
arguments for surveillance.
There is mass obedience with little
or no resistance
Government agencies have the role
of controllers and enforcers of
public policy
(LEVEL FIVE) TOTAL SURVEILLANCE
Rarely attained state of total surveillance
• Crucial element - Meek willingness of the public to support
government control.
• Public voluntarily aids in surveillance. Surrenders their own liberty
and privacy and will force the surrender of their neighbor's
information or liberty
• All movements and activities monitored or controlled by authorities
• There is still physical freedom of movement and freedom of
association, just no right to keep anything secret.
The interests of the government become internalized by the
public. Individual rights and identity subsumed by government
interests. (Think Stockholm Syndrome)
Level of surveillance of a population is always predicated on 4 things;
Money, Man power or Technology, political will, public acceptance
Source-THE NEW PARADIGM—MERGING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COUNTERTERRORISM
STRATEGIES Secure Cities 2006 http://www.scribd.com/doc/21970726/IACP-Intelligence-Led-Policing-2006-New-Paradigm
What does this mean?
Global political integration, merging military and civilian operations, loss of
natural and constitutional rights and protections traditionally afforded us
citizens, perpetual emergency state, all are viewed equally as a potential threat
Intelligence Led Policing
Key Features of Intelligence Led Policing ;
• Information driven (human, data-mining, hi-tech surveillance)
• information sharing (without regard to jurisdiction)
• Interconnected data systems-data fusion
Tech. and Data Driven
• Preemptive
• Preventative
• Predictive
• Utilitarian the ends justifies the
means
• Social control Seeks to influence the
behavior of the public to desired ends
Intelligence-led policing is future focus in Rochester, 2010
"You're less likely to do something (wrong) if you think somebody's
watching," McAleer said. "This is the direction of policing in this country,"
Total Information Awareness
“TIA would give government the power to generate a
comprehensive data profile on anyone”
• 2002 Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) Project
• 2003 TIA was supposedly defunded by
Congress
• 2013 TIA lives. Change the name, shift
the programs, quietly continue funding.
• Ex; New NSA data center, Utah, Fusion
Centers, F.A.S.T.,
Transaction, finances, education, medical
history, travel, public records, Emails,
personal communications and more
. .without any requirement for a
search warrant. link
Total Information
Awareness Goal: All
Encompassing Knowledge
of the facts and
circumstances of people
places and things and
events
An electronic police state is characterized by this:
State use of electronic technologies to record, organize, search and distribute forensic
evidence against its citizens.
The two crucial facts about the information gathered under an electronic police state are
these:
1. It is criminal evidence, ready for use in a trial.
2. It is gathered universally (“preventively”) and only later organized for use in prosecutions.
In an Electronic Police State, every surveillance camera recording,
every email sent, every Internet site surfed, every post made,
every check written, every credit card swipe, every cell phone
ping... are all criminal evidence, and all are held in searchable
databases. The individual can be prosecuted whenever the
government wishes.
Long-term, the Electronic Police State destroys free speech, the
right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and
other liberties. Worse, it does so in a way that is difficult to
identify.
The Electronic Police State 2010
https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2010.pdf
National Security Agency NSA Quote Church
“Th[e National Security Agency's] capability at any time
could be turned around on the American people, and no
American would have any privacy left, such is the
capability to monitor everything: telephone
conversations, telegrams, it doesn’t matter. There
would be no place to hide. [If a dictator ever took over,
the N.S.A.] could enable it to impose total tyranny, and
there would be no way to fight back.“
--Sen. Frank Church
The Utah Data Center
Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named
Utah Data Center is being built for the National Security Agency. A project of
immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past
decade.
Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s
communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the
underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic
networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in
September 2013.
Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases
will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private
emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data
trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital
“pocket litter.”
It is, in some measure, the realization of the “total information awareness”
program. . .
Scientia Est Potentia
“Knowledge is Power”
Motto of Admiral Poindexter’s Information Awareness Office
“A . . .crucial component [of TIA] was the
development of biometric technology to enable the
identification and tracking of individuals.” EPIC
BIOMETRIC ID IS THE LYNCHPIN OF THE MODERN
SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY. EVERYONE MUST BE ENROLLED
Nathan Allonby:
"Simultaneous introduction of biometric, smart ID cards around the world is
not just a coincidence, it is not merely due to nations copying effective
schemes in other nations, and is not just a phenomenon related to the
sudden maturity of technology. Implementation of these ID card schemes was
pushed. It is being driven in a coordinated programme, via international
organisations and conferences, led by the US and the European Union (EU)."
http://www.corbettreport.com/mp3/2010-01-09%20Nathan%20Allonby.mp3
ID Cards - intergovernmental cooperation in worldwide
implementation
http://www.corbettreport.com/articles/20100109_id_cards.htm
ID Cards – a World View
http://www.globalresearch.ca/id-cards-a-world-view/14992
ID Cards – a World View
However, policies introducing ID cards, evolved in secret, go far beyond identification
and security, as described by Tony Bunyan of Statewatch, in an article in The Guardian.
ID cards are only one tool, enabling a much larger scheme, to track and record the
lives of every individual; Bunyan calls this the digital
tsunami : -
“Every object the individual uses, every transaction they make
and almost everywhere they go will create a detailed digital
record. This will generate a wealth of information for public
security organisations”, leading to behaviour being predicted
and assessed by “machines” (their term) which will issue orders
to officers on the spot. The proposal presages the mass
gathering of personal data on travel, bank details, mobile phone
locations, health records, internet usage, criminal records
however minor, fingerprints and digital pictures that can be
data-mined and applied to different scenario – boarding a plane,
behaviour on the Tube or taking part in a protest.”
Biometrics is used to establish a perfect
connection between the body and personal data
associated with an individual.
travel
Health
transactions
Financial
employment
Location
Habits
associations
Medical
education
“When you do that, assemble that much info,
you're assembling power,” William Binney
http://civic.mit.edu/blog/schock/the-government-is-profiling-you-william-binneyformer-nsa
The Program (Stellar Wind) on You
Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur
e=player_embedded&v=6PIPHNlAxY4#
at=42
In this powerful interview, documentary
filmmaker Laura Poitras talks with William
Binney about the emerging police state in
America.
Binney discusses how programs he had
helped develop to gather intelligence on
foreign enemies was suddenly, and to his
shock, turned around on the American public
without their knowledge or consent.
He resigned from the NSA due to the
unconstitutionality and immorality of this
turn of events.
William Binney is a former mathematician and code breaker at the NSA
NSA agent: Everyone
under virtual
surveillance
In an interview with RT, William Binney, a former
mathematician and code breaker at the NSA, says the
FBI records the emails of nearly all Americans,
including members of Congress, and warns that the
government can use this information against
anyone.
“The FBI has access to the data collected, which is
basically the emails of virtually everybody in the
country. And the FBI has access to it,” Binney said.
“All the congressional members are on the
surveillance, too, no one is excluded. They are all
included. So, yes, this can happen to anyone. If they
become a target for whatever reason – they are
targeted by the government, the government can go
in, or the FBI, or other agencies of the government,
they can go into their database, pull all that data
collected on them over the years, and we analyze it
all. So, we have to actively analyze everything they’ve
done for the last 10 years at least.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/nsa-agent-everyone-under-virtual-surveillance/#OB3q3vp6K62STRju.99
Senate Passes FISA Extension 73-23 Dec. 28, 2012
Congress approved a measure Friday that would renew expansive U.S. surveillance
authority for five more years, rejecting objections from senators who are concerned the
legislation does not adequately protect Americans' privacy. The bill passed the Senate 73
to 23. The House approved it in September
The FISA Amendments Act, (.pdf) which was expiring Monday at
midnight, allows the government to electronically eavesdrop on
Americans’ phone calls and e-mails without a probable-cause
warrant so long as one of the parties to the communication is
believed outside the United States. The communications may be
intercepted “to acquire foreign intelligence information.” link
Amendments that would have offered some
small degree of oversight were pushed aside.
Defenders claimed that they simply didn't
have time to properly consider alternatives,
but that's mainly because they didn't schedule
a debate until mere hours remained before
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
amendments were set to expire. link
Dec. 31: Obama signs FISA extension
Americans Are The Most Spied On
People In World History
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/americans-the-most-spied-on-people-inworld-history.html
Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying
Dec. 2005 Headlines
• New York Times Exposes NSA Spying to
the Public for the First Time
• President Bush Confirms Existence of NSA
Spying
• New York Times Reveals Some of NSA
Spying Activites Are Purely Domestic
• New York Times Reveals NSA Spying
Program Much Larger Than President Bush
Acknowledged
• New York Times Reveals Companies Gave
Backdoor Access to Their Communications
https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/timeline
Stream
U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of 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.
Now, NCTC can copy entire government databases—flight records, casino-employee lists,
the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and many others. The agency
has new authority to keep data about innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to
analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited.
The changes also allow databases of U.S. civilian information to be given to foreign
governments for analysis of their own. In effect, U.S. and foreign governments would be
using the information to look for clues that people might commit future crimes.
"It's breathtaking" in its scope, said a former senior administration official familiar with
the White House debate.
December 12, 2012, The Wall Street Journal
Darla Storm, Computer World Dec. 17, 2012:
In March 2012 the Obama administration secretly had Attorney General Eric
Holder sign new NCTC guidelines [PDF] so it could store data on all Americans as
potential domestic terrorists.
The guidelines changed the amount of time NCTC “can retain private information about
Americans when there is no suspicion that they are tied to terrorism.”
Mike German, the ACLU's Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
wrote, “American citizens and residents should not be considered potential terrorists
until the NCTC decides otherwise. Having innocent people's information in
intelligence databases for five years without any suspicion of wrongdoing creates an
unacceptable risk to Americans' privacy through error and abuse.”
Previously, NCTC analysts were "required to remove information about innocent U.S. people
'upon discovery’,” but "they didn't always know who was innocent. A person might seem
innocent today, until new details emerge tomorrow.
. . NCTC can get hold of any government file on any U.S. citizen to examine it “for possible
criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them,” so don't be silly by believing
you must break the law first. “NCTC can copy entire government databases—flight records,
casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and many
others.”
http://blogs.computerworld.com/privacy/21505/feds-spying-innocent-americans-just-case-we-might-commitfuture-crimes
Warrantless cellphone location tracking: What Fourth
Amendment?
Despite a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January on the
constitutionality of GPS tracking by law enforcement agencies,
the overall issue of location tracking of individuals remained as
murky as ever in 2012.
Cellphones and other mobile devices offer criminal investigators a powerful
tool for tracking suspects. Local police departments often use realtime
cellphone data track individuals. In addition, historical cellphone data is
often gathered -- without a warrant -- by police to track past activities of
suspected criminals.
In a case now being heard by the U.S Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, federal
prosecutors maintain that there can be no reasonable expectation of
privacy in historical cell phone location data that is collected and
maintained by phone companies. According to prosecutors, the Stored
Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 allows them to use a relatively easy-toobtain court order to force a carrier to turn over a person's historical cell-site
location information.
http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9234896/Drones_phones_and_other_2012_privacy_threats?taxonomyId=17&page
Number=2
Warrantless cellphone location tracking: What Fourth
Amendment?
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in August agreed with that assessment,
ruling that Fourth Amendment protections do not apply to cellphone
location data.
Others courts, however, have ruled that cellphone data is protected. n a
landmark ruling in June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with privacy
advocates that law enforcement officials need to first obtain a search
warrant based on probable cause before conducting some types of
location tracking.
However, the court's decision pertained only to the issue of warrantless
GPS tracking. It did not address the crucial and much broader issue of
whether similar tracking using cellphone data and other geo-tracking
devices requires a warrant.
That lack of guidance leaves the door open for all sorts of warrantless
cellphone tracking by the government and all sorts of interpretation of
those actions by the courts, privacy advocates say.
http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9234896/Drones_phones_and_other_2012_privacy
_threats?taxonomyId=17&pageNumber=2
DOT to begin offering REAL ID January 15th
January 3, 2013 By Dar Danielson
Sample of a new REAL ID driver’s license.
The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to begin offering what’s known
as the REAL ID driver’s license later this month.
Mark Lowe, the director of the DOT’s Motor Division, says the new license is
federally mandated.
“Real ID is really just a regular Iowa driver’s license or non-operators
identification card that we have marked to show that when we issued it we
were in compliance with federal guidelines for secure issuance of driver’s
licenses or ID’s,” Lowe explains.
“So really nothing new in terms of what a driver’s license or ID is, but it
signifies that we have met certain federal requirements and when the person
came, they provided documents that met the federal requirements.”
Congress created the REAL ID program in an effort to prevent terrorist attacks
http://www.radioiowa.com/2013/01/03/dot-to-begin-offering-real-id-january-15th/
How close is Oklahoma to Real ID? Much, Much
Closer Than It Ought To Be
Kaye Beach
September 14, 2012
Have you noticed the flurry of activity related to Oklahoma’s driver’s licenses? Did
your Real ID radar begin to ping?
A Google photo search for “new driver’s license design” shows that many states,
like Oklahoma, are getting new driver’s license designs. And like Oklahoma, the
photos are all moved to the left. This isn’t a DMV fad. These standards come
from somewhere. – 2012 AAMVA North American Standard – DL/ID Card Design
Biometrics FRT
• Imagine the police taking a picture: any
picture of a person, anywhere, and matching
it on the spot in less than a second to a
personalized profile, scanning millions upon
millions of entries from within vast, intricate
databases stored on the cloud.
• It’s done with state of the art facial
recognition technology, and in Southern
California it’s already happening.
http://rt.com/usa/news/california-facefirstsurveillance-recognition-908/
• FBI Introduces a New Generation Facial
Recognition System
• By Harry Morgan on October 28, 2011
•
http://www.virusremove.co.uk/2011/10/fbi-introduces-a-new-generation-facial-recognition-system/
FBI Next Generation ID
The FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) database
represents the most robust effort to introduce and
streamline multimodal biometrics collection.
Jennifer Lynch, EFF,
FROM FINGER PRINTS TO
DNA, 2012
BIOMETRIC DATA
COLLECTION
IN U.S. IMMIGRANT
COMMUNITIES
AND BEYOND
FBI has stated it needs “to collect as much biometric data
as possible . . . and to make this information accessible to
all levels of law enforcement, including International
agencies.”
Accordingly, it has been working “aggressively to build
biometric databases that are comprehensive and
international in scope.”75
Once NGI is complete, it will include iris scans, palm
prints,76 and voice data, in addition to fingerprints.
However, the biggest and perhaps most controversial
change will be the addition of face‐recognition ready
photographs, which the FBI has already started collecting
through a pilot program with four states.77
Facts about the FBI’s Next Generation ID
According to the FBI it is official FBI policy to collect “as much biometric data as possible
within information technology systems” and to “work aggressively to build biometric
databases that are comprehensive and international in scope.” link
-NGI will be fully operational in 2014
-In 2008 Lockheed Martin won a 1 billion dollar contract for the NGI. source
-This database is international in scope. Biometrics collected by government officials is
already done so using international standards for the purpose of international data sharing.
-The FBI will share data with more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and international
agencies. Link
-State DMV databases are one of the desired sources of biometrics for the FBI. FBI Facial
Recognition Initiatives
-The database is NOT being built from the biometrics of just criminals or legitimate
suspects.
The NGI consolidates two existing databases of biometric information (one from the FBI and
one from the Dept. Of Homeland Security) both of which were designed to be independent
of each other and not interoperable.
Facts NGI
The FBI database, IAFIS, being merged with NGI, contains biometric data obtained from
civil sources such as attorney bar applications, federal and state employees, and from
people who work with children or the elderly so perfectly innocent if not model citizens
also are included in the mix. . link Link
-The FBI intends to supplement the biometric data is already has access to with
biometric data from “seized systems” and “open sources”. That means pictures that are
on the internet or ones collected by existing CCTV surveillance cameras.
-The NGI currently contains palmprints, scars, marks, tattoos, voices, irises, and facial
measurements but designed to collect even more types of biometrics, such as DNA, in
the future. (Can you imagine being stopped for a traffic violation and on the spot having
a DNA sample taken, tested and used to pull up volumes of information about you? Well,
they can. )
-The FBI’s Next Generation ID violates the 1974 Privacy Act provisions which require that
federal agencies maintain the records accurately and sets limitation on how and with
whom the records can be shared. The FBI claims that it is exempt from these provisions.
-The FBI has already deployed handheld biometric collection devices to police officers to
help build the NGI database.
“. . .last year, the FBI rolled out a facial recognition pilot program in
Maryland,
Michigan and Hawaii that will soon expand to three more states. This pilot
lets officers in the field take a photo of someone and compare it to a
federal database of criminal mugshots. The pilot can also help ID a suspect
in a photo from an actual crime. Already, several other states are
setting up their own facial recognition systems independently of the FBI. . .
. I fear that the FBI pilot could be abused to not only identify protesters at
political events
and rallies, but to target them for selective jailing and prosecution, stifling
their First Amendment rights.
Curiously enough, a lot of the presentations on this technology by the
Department of
Justice show it being used on people attending political events or other
public gatherings.
I also fear that without further protections, facial recognition technology
could be used on unsuspecting civilians innocent of any crime — invading
their privacy and exposing them to potential false identifications.
Since 2010, the National Institute of Justice, which is a part of DOJ, has
spent $1.4 million to develop facial recognition-enhanced binoculars that
can be used to identify people at a distance and in crowds.
RNC 2012
Undercover cops secretly use smartphones, face
recognition to spy on crowds
By Darlene Storm Computer World
September 18, 2012 12:50 PM EDT
A Florida intelligence officer admitted that undercover police were
mingling with the public, using their smartphones to take videos
and photos to spy on “suspicious” citizens. Then the undetected
cops could determine a person’s name by checking the image
against a facial recognition database. That is precisely what
happened at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa,
according to a report from the National Journal.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/privacy/21010/undercover-cops-secretly-use-smartphones-face-recognition-spycrowds
The RNC was the first major
party political convention in
modern history without a
large protest presence.
Law enforcement officers outnumbered
protestors by at least 5 to 1 and at times 10 to
1.
only two arrests made during the four day
convention, The $2,000,0000 camera
installation did not aide in these arrests and
helped solve zero crimes.
http://rncctv.com/
Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS): Homeland Security,
NLETS and the IACP Target Your Biometric Driver’s License Photo
The following is from an article published in Nov. of this year by the
Police Chief, the official magazine of the International Association of
Chiefs of Police (IACP);
(“Image” means biometric image which is quite different than a simple
photograph)
“In 2006, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and
Technology (S&T) Directorate gave the International Justice and
Public Safety Network (Nlets) funds to implement driver’s
license image sharing between the states.
Your state department of public safety or DMV driver’s
license database provides your biometric data which tethers
your body to other unique biographical data such as your
social security number, age, address and more. As a tool for
surveillance and control, your faceprint is invaluable.
“Today, more than 25 states have implemented this technology and
are providing law enforcement images. In the next year, at least 12
more states will implement this technology. . . .For some time now,
officers have been able to retrieve images through a mobile device
while on the street to help identify individuals.” A Picture Is Worth a
Thousand Words IACP, A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Now, law enforcement can, simply by taking your picture, identify
and investigate you as you go about your business in public without
you even being aware that this is happening. This has always been
the goal.
“Nlets will not consider photo sharing a success until it is
implemented in all 50 states”
Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS)
“Nlets and DHS S&T have been working to expand the use of
images in public safety. A new DHS/Nlets project called Targeted
Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS)” IACP, A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
NLETS formerly the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications Service is now THE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
& PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
NLETS “links together every state, local, and federal and
International law enforcement (INTERPOL), justice and public
safety agency for the purpose of exchanging critical information.”
http://www.nlets.org/
NLETS role has always been to serve the
state’s law enforcement needs, but that
role, as noted by NLETS, is changing.
From Hot Trends and Innovations at Nlets 2012
Slide # 42
While Nlets is 45 years old this year, we
have always taken the “child” role, with
the States being the “parent”
–In recent years, the child is becoming the
parent in many aspects.
Why? For one thing NLETS is now being
funded and thus, directed by the federal
government.
When lines of authority are blurred, power
naturally defaults to the highest level. The states
are not ‘partners’ with the federal government in
matters that require state authority over their
jurisdiction.
From the Legal Information Institute;
Jurisdiction-The term jurisdiction is really synonymous
with the word “power”
Jurisdiction is the territory within which a court or
government agency may properly exercise its power
State and local policing is a jurisdictional matter
and the states and local governments have
conceded their authority in this. Informational
jurisdiction is no exception and in fact leads
physical control.
READ MORE http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/targeted-interstate-photo-sharingtips-homeland-security-nlets-and-the-iacp-target-your-biometric-drivers-license-photo/
9/13/2010
India Launches Universal ID System with
Biometrics
India has launched an ambitious program to fit each of its 1.2
billion residents with an Unique identification number (UID).
Each number will be tied into three pieces of biometric data:
fingerprints (all ten digits), iris scans (both eyes), and a picture
of the face. http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/13/indialaunches-universal-id-system-with-biometrics/
although the justification for the billion person database is the increased ability to accurately
disperse social welfare benefits, it will not be just the Indian government’s social welfare
programs that have access to and utilize the UIDAI. Indeed, even before the program has
been completed, major banks, state/local governments, and other institutions are planning
to use the UIDAI for identification verification purposes and, of course, payment and
accessibility. (the Activist Post) http://www.activistpost.com/2012/01/cashless-society-india-implements-first.html
January 2, 2013 Biometric identification will be mandatory from now on in New Delhi for those looking to
register property or their marriage, The Times of India reports. The revenue department
will be the first of many government departments to make biometric identification proof
mandatory for its services, and others are soon to follow.
Nationwide Voice and Face Recognition Launches in
Ecuador Francie Diep, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer
Date: 17 December 2012
Ecuador has installed a nationwide system
that lets government officials ID "several
million" people by their voices and
faces, Slate reported.
If an Ecuadorian agency taps a phone line, for example, it is
now able to match the voices in a call with a database of
"voiceprints" of known criminals, suspects and persons of
interest.
The voice system is 97 percent accurate, says the system's
maker, SpeechPro, the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian company
called Speech Technology Center. Adding face recognition
makes the system nearly foolproof, SpeechPro's website
adds.
http://www.livescience.com/25613-nationwidebiometrics-ecuador.html
Ecuador's new ID tech is a sign of the increasing affordability
of countrywide systems that identify people by their
biological characteristics, called biometrics. . .
Swiping of driver’s licenses is being
required for buying gas (in case you try
to leave without paying), for entry to
public schools (in case you might be child
predator and if you are misidentified as a
sex offender, which happens often
enough, well, stinks for you!), for buying
cold medicine, for entry to bars and
casinos, San Francisco wants ID swipes
for most public events, Harlem wants
tenants to swipe to gain entry to their
homes, and now, the TSA is swiping
airline passengers’ ID’s .
At some point in the not-so-distant-future, we will be required to show and/or
swipe our driver’s license for just about everything we as humans need to live. As
the process grows more and more automated and the data is digitized, we will
find our movements, transactions and habits logged and our lives tracked and
documented.
Best Buy’s Worst Policy-Swiping ID’s and Destiny Management
April, 14, 2012
Best Buy (and Victoria’s Secret and The Finish Line and many other stores!) Requires Govt.
Issued Photo ID for ALL Returns.
The ID card data is swiped, stored and shared with a third party to track customer purchases
and “to monitor the return behavior of shoppers; and warn or deny individuals flagged as
questionable” Link to The Retail Equation, Inc.’s
According to the Retail Equation, Inc.,
“The technology’s predictive modeling measured the likelihood of
fraudulent or abusive behavior, as well as the likelihood of a
consumer’s profitability”
http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/best-buys-worst-policy-swiping-ids-and-destiny-management/
Predictive Analytics
From Wikipedia; Predictive analytics
encompasses a variety of statistical
techniques from modeling, machine
learning, data mining and game theory
that analyze current and historical facts to
make predictions about future events.
Data mining and predictive analytics is
being used in just about every aspect of
our lives. Predictive analytics applies a
mathematical formula to masses of data
to predict what a person is more or less
likely to do in the future.
Decisions are being made every day, out
of our view, that affects our lives,.
DRONES!
The U.S. drone law: Eye in the sky
• The Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of
2012, signed into law by President Barack Obama in February, was
immediately slammed by rights groups, privacy advocates and lawmakers
who contended that the law poses a major threat to the privacy of lawabiding citizens.
• The bill, still largely unnoticed by the general public, opens up American
airspace to commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), better known
as drones.
• Over the next few years, the FAA is expected to license the use of as many
as 30,000 drones by border patrol agents, government agencies, state and
local law enforcement agencies as well as businesses.
• The powerful drone lobby has done much to highlight the benefits of
drones in tracking fugitive criminals, managing traffic, monitoring crops,
conducting land management activities, news reporting and filmmaking.
• Numerous agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security,
NASA, the FBI. the border patrol, and local police departments have
secured licenses to operate drones in U.S. airspace.
http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9234896/Drones_phones_and_other_2012_privacy_threats?mm_ref=http%3
A%2F%2Ft.co%2FDlC025hs
Danger Room‘s Spencer Ackerman reports
on Oct. 8, 2012
Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety
Oklahoma has
been chosen as a
site to test and fly
drones for the
Homeland
Security
Department’s
program for
Robotic Aircraft
for Public Safety
(RAPS).
In the coming months, Fort Sill, Oklahoma
will become a proving ground to learn
what small surveillance drones can add to
“first responder, law enforcement and
border security scenarios,” according to a
recent solicitation to the country’s various
drone manufacturers. Each selected drone
will undergo five days’ worth of tests as
part of a new program from DHS’ Science
and Technology directorate, called Robotic
Aircraft for Public Safety or, gloriously,
RAPS.
Oklahoma Governor Mary
Fallin put out a press release
on June 28, 2012 about the
program and carefully avoided
any indication of law
enforcement use of the
drones choosing instead to
focus on life saving, first
responder uses.
“The program will research and test Small Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (SUAS), focusing on possible applications for first
responders, including search and rescue scenarios, response to
radiological and chemical incidents and fire response and
mapping.” read more
Wary eyes shift to the skies as
unmanned aircraft are tested
in state
December 31, 2012
FORT SILL — The small, winged drone quietly soared overhead as SWAT team
members closed in on a building at Fort Sill.
When a suspect sprinted from the structure, the drone banked through a cloudless
afternoon sky in an effort to track the person.
A few miles away, two Lockheed Martin technicians sat in a converted bedroom of a
ranch-style house using a laptop computer to control the drone’s movements. They
followed the action on a video relay.
The simulated chase this month was among the first test flights in a U.S.
Department of Homeland Security program designed to evaluate the possible
civilian use of “Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.”
Read more
Top five drone donors to the drone caucus
Lockheed Martin
Boeing
Northrop Grumman Corp.
General Atomics
General Dynamics
Drone Industry Bucks for Drone Caucus Members Including 3
Oklahoma Congressmen
Tom Cole OK-4
Campaign Donations from top five drone donors 2011-12
Boeing 8,500
Lockheed Martin 6,500
General Atomics 2,000
**Raytheon 4,500 (Raytheon is also a big player in the drone industry)
**BAE Systems 3,500 (BAE Systems is also a big player in the drone
industry)
**Honeywell 3,000 (Honeywell is also a big player in the drone industry)
**Mantech 3,000 (Mantech is another drone industry player)
**Alliant TechSystems (ATK) 1,500 (ATK is another drone industry
player)
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00025726&cy
cle=2012&type=I&newMem=N&recs=100
TRAVEL/TRANSPORTATION
Automatic License Plate Readers:
Privacy and Policy Issues
Attached to police cruisers, or fixed on telephone poles or other stationary places, the
cameras snap an image of every license plate they encounter up to 1,800 plates per
minute. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239605.pdf
ALPRs identify, catalogue, and store the license plate numbers of every vehicle in their
range, regardless of whether the operator of that vehicle is engaged in or suspected of
a wrongful act or not.
The device produces a file for each image captured, which includes searchable text
displaying the time, date and GPS location of the car when and where the plate was
‘read’. This information is fed into a database, where it can be shared with other agencies
and databases, and “mined” or analyzed. Link
The use of ALPRs creates a very real possibility that our every movement in an
automobile will be tracked and recorded. The issue of data retention and sharing,
at a minimum, must be addressed. Without sensible limits on data retention,
license plate readers will become license plate trackers
Millions in federal grant dollars have been handed
out to police agencies nationwide for ALPR devices.
The groundwork has been laid for weaving local
ALPR into a growing, nationwide motor vehicle
tracking system.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund reports that;
The federal government has spent millions of dollars outfitting local law
enforcement, from big cities, to the smallest towns with tag reader systems.
Using the pretext of drug interdiction and border enforcement, the federal
government has installed its own network of cameras that has grown and
continues to grow well past the borders throughout the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security has created customized software to
integrate the surveillance data obtained through all the different vendor
systems that are on the market and used by different localities.
The federal government has a massive data storage center for tag reader
information located in Northern Virginia. Read more
Fusion Centers
In Maryland spy cam data is fed directly to the state Fusion
Center. The vast majority of motorists are completely innocent of any
crime, yet they are also scooped up into this mass tracking and
surveillance net.
‘Here in Maryland, the state has reported that there are more than 320
ALPRs being used and many are linked to the Maryland Coordination and
Analysis Center, Maryland's "fusion center," where the data is potentially
stored indefinitely, creating an ever-growing database of our location and
travel through the state.’ http://www.aclu-md.org/press_room/75
The National Vehicle Location Service
And as I reported back in April, the information collected by ALPR is
being collected in a massive, central, private database that is
shared with law enforcement. Back in April, the National Vehicle
Location Service held over 650 million plates collected from around the
nation.
ALPR: Regional Information Sharing
In reading national policy guidelines, it is apparent that state law
enforcement agencies are being primed to set up their systems and
policies in such a way that will enable the mass surveillance and
tracking potential of the ALPR. (See
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239605.pdf)
Some states are waking up to the pitfalls of these regional information
sharing plans. Public outrage and legislator’s concerns sunk the
program in Utah.
In May, Utah lawmakers were surprised to learn that the US Drug
Enforcement Agency had worked out a plan with local sheriffs to pack
the state's main interstate highway, I-15, with Automated License Plate
Readers (ALPRs) that could track any vehicle passing through.. . . The
plan ended up getting shelved, but that did not present a huge problem
for the DEA because as it turns out, large stretches of highway in Texas
and California already use the readers.
Law Enforcement Looking To Create A Searchable Database Of
Everywhere Your Vehicle Has Been
Only two states in the nation (so far) have statutes on the books to
regulate ALPR use, New Hampshire and Maine. New Hampshire’s
legislature has all but banned such readers, and Maine’s statute forces
police to delete their data after 21 days.
Powerful technology demands sensible policy
At a minimum, a good ALPR policy should;
• Specify legitimate, narrow uses for the technology, such as checking
warrants or registration violations.
• ALPR should not be used to track our movement and whereabouts,
whether in the present or for future data-mining. Such unrestrained
monitoring is inconsistent with a free society.
• Require that all “non-hit” or non-criminal data be deleted within 10
days.
• Permit sharing of individually-identifiable ALPR data only for
specifically authorized enforcement.
• Establish auditing mechanisms to ensure appropriate use of ALPR
technology and data.
• Provide sanctions for misuse of ALPR technology by individual
officers.
Feds Requiring ‘Black Boxes’ in All
Motor Vehicles
12-26-2012 • http://www.wired.com, By David Kravets
While many automakers have voluntarily installed the devices already, the
National Transportation Safety Agency wants to hear your comments by
February 11 on its proposal mandating them in all vehicles. Congress has
empowered the agency to set motor-vehicle-safety rules.
Clearly, regulators’ intentions are about safety, as the devices would trigger —
for about 30 seconds — during so-called “events” such as during sudden
breaking, acceleration, swerving or other types of driving that might lead to an
accident.
The data, which can either be downloaded remotely or by a physical
connection, depending upon a vehicle’s model, is to be used by manufacturers
and regulators “primarily for the purpose of post-crash assessment of vehicle
safety system performance,” according to an announcement in the Federal
Register. (.pdf)
Read Full Story
Busted! Your car's black box is
spying, may be used against
you in court
Darla Storm Computer World
May 1, 2012
Does that data about your driving belong
to you or to insurance companies? . . some
courts have ruled the info belongs to the
insurance companies and others have ruled
the data belongs to drivers. As IEEE pointed
out, "In the 37 states without EDR laws,
there are no ground rules preventing
insurance companies from obtaining the
data-sometimes without the vehicle
owner ever knowing that the data
existed." John Tomaszewski, general
counsel at TRUSTe, said "People should not
relinquish their Fourth Amendment rights
merely because of the location of their
information." What about your right to
plead the Fifth Amendment and not
witness against yourself?
. . .Way back in 2006, the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandated
that all new vehicles be equipped with EDR
"black boxes" by the 2013 model year [PDF].
85% of U.S. vehicles now have EDR devices that
"must capture and preserve at least 15 types of
crash data, including pre-crash speed, engine
throttle, changes in forward velocity and airbag
deployment times." Some capture 30 types of
data.
A politician was caught speeding, not by the
cops but by his totaled car's black box. The
police thought the wreck was a result of icy
roads, but Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy
Murray . . .it proved Murray wasn't wearing a
seatbelt, was "going 75 mph on an interstate
marked for 65 mph," and "in the final few
seconds before the crash, Murray pressed the
accelerator, and the car's speed rose to 99 mph;
it was traveling 106 mph by the time it hit the
rock ledge." Busted!
Privacy and the car of the future: Cars talking to each other and
to infrastructure
Privacy and the Car of the Future: Considerations for the connected vehicle [PDF] was
presented at the 29th Chaos Communication Congress (29C3) in Hamburg, Germany by
Christie Dudley. She wrote, “I was contracted to do a privacy audit in July to identify aspects
of the technology that would pose threats to users' privacy, as well as offering summaries of
methods to partially or completely compromise the system. For this program to be
successful, it must be accepted by the public since the benefits are derived from others'
broadcasts.”
About 2,800 vehicles are talking to each other in the U.S. Department of Transportation's
Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot in Ann Arbor, Mich. These cars wirelessly send signals to each
other, “warning their drivers of potential dangers such as stopped traffic or cars that might
be blowing through a red light. They can even get traffic lights to turn green if no cars are
coming the other way.” The US DOT will decide later this year if DSRC should be required for
all new cars. The German government is considering investing in this messaging technology
so it could be built into infrastructure.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/privacy/2157
1/privacy-and-car-future-cars-talking-eachother-and-infrastructure
New DVRs will use cameras and microphones to monitor their owners
http://rt.com/usa/news/verizon-patent-future-television-382/
Think Google ad targeting is crossing the line? Verizon filed a patent for a cable television box
that uses sensors to record what you’re doing and target you with specific advertisements
that relate to your mood.
The telecom giant Verizon wants to know you better. Much better. The company just
registered a patent for its DVR of the future. The set-top box would use a depth sensor, an
image sensor, an audio sensor and a thermal sensor to determine what those watching
television are doing. If a couple is having an argument in front of the TV, a marriage
counseling ad may come up. If two people are cozying up, Verizon may put up an ad for
contraceptives or a romantic getaway.
The sensors would also be able to detect where someone is looking. If the viewer is watching
a certain ad, Verizon might use that as an indicator to play similar ads in the future.
“If detection facility detects one or more words spoken by a user (e.g. while talking to another
user within the same room or on the telephone), advertising facility may utilize the one or
more words spoken by the user to search for and/or select an advertisement associated with
the one or more words,” Verizon wrote in its application.
Rather than watching television, television will be watching its viewers.
What are Fusion Centers?
The hubs for this multi-source information collection are the regional and
state “fusion centers.” Since 2003, with the assistance of Department of
Homeland Security funding, these new data collection institutions have
been developed all over the country for the express purpose of “fusing”
and analyzing information from law enforcement, other government
entities, and private companies, ostensibly to combat terrorism but that
purpose quickly expanded to “all-hazards”
Now numbering 72, fusion centers are intended to be “the cornerstone of
information sharing with state and local governments.”
Operating on the state and local level, these institutions have been
established to feed a rapidly developing national intelligence network,
each one serving as a node within the larger information-sharing web.
Senate Fusion Center Report
Senate Panels Finds Anti-Terror, Data-Sharing Centers Were Useless
by Eyder Peralta
NPR - October 3, 2012
An effort to share counter-terrorism intelligence across federal and
local law enforcement has turned out to be a useless and expensive
exercise that also put Americans' civil liberties at risk, a newly-released
Senate subcommittee report (pdf) finds....
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwoway/2012/10/03/162209738/senate-panels-finds-anti-terror-datasharing-centers-were-useless?sc=17&f=1001
Smart Meters
A smart meter is usually an electrical meter that records consumption of electric
energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least
daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes.[7] Smart meters enable
two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Unlike home
energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. Such an
advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) differs from traditional automatic meter
reading (AMR) in that it enables two-way communications with the meter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter
What is Smart Grid?
Smart Grid is the digital and Wi-fi enabled power meters that enable communication
between the appliances in your home or business, with the power provider. This provides you and your utility company with visibility of your energy usage and control over
your appliances as well as your usage of gas and water.
Smart Meter fight in NE Oklahoma
I gentlemen I know is pushing back against
OG&E’s forced installation of a smart meter
on his home. He has been successfully holding
them off since last summer.
Find some of the tools he is using here
Info_Handout.pdf - This is the information handout that I gave out to every
neighbor on my block
No_Entry_Sign.jpg - This is the sign that people can print and laminate (at
Staples) and put on their meter box
Certified_Letter.pdf - This is the letter that people can use to mail to
OG&E. They should send this by Certified Mail.
Labels.doc - These are labels that people can print and put on their meters
and meter boxes. These work with Avery label #5452, which people can buy
at Staples.
Those files can be posted on your site if you'd like, for anyone to use.
FBI: Smart Meter Hacks Likely to Spread
A series of hacks perpetrated against so-called “smart meter” installations over the past
several years may have cost a single U.S. electric utility hundreds of millions of dollars
annually, the FBI said in a cyber intelligence bulletin obtained by KrebsOnSecurity.
The law enforcement agency said this is the first known report of criminals compromising the
hi-tech meters, and that it expects this type of fraud to spread across the country as more
utilities deploy smart grid technology.
The FBI believes that miscreants hacked into the smart meters using an optical converter
device — such as an infrared light — connected to a laptop that allows the smart meter
to communicate with the computer. After making that connection, the thieves changed
the settings for recording power consumption using software that can be downloaded
from the Internet.
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/04/fbi-smart-meter-hacks-likely-tospread/
• EPIC Obtains Documents on NSA's "Perfect Citizen"
Program
• The NSA has turned over documents on the controversial
"Perfect Citizen" program to EPIC in response to a FOIA
request. "Perfect Citizen" is an NSA program that monitors
private networks in the United States.
• The redacted documents obtained from the federal agency
by EPIC state that "[t]he prevention of a loss due to a cyber
or physical attack [on Sensitive Control Systems, like largescale utilities], or recovery of operational capability after
such an event, is crucial to the continuity of the
[Department of Defense] , the [Intelligence Community],
and the operation of SIGNIT systems."
• The NSA claims that Perfect Citizen is merely a research and
development program. The documents obtained by EPIC
suggest that the program is operational. For more
information, see EPIC: Perfect Citizen.
Baltimore Begins Recording All Conversations
on City Buses
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/13552-baltimorebegins-recording-all-conversations-on-citybuses?fb_action_ids=4529687035680&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.
UJyJNswWhZk.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=28838148
1237582
Social Media Monitoring
• http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/DHS-MediaMonitoring-Ltr-02-22-12.pdf