The Pentagon has pushed legislation on Capitol Hill that would create an intelligence exception to the Privacy Act, allowing the FBI and others to share information gathered about U.S. citizens with the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies, as long as the data is deemed to be related to foreign intelligence. Backers say the measure is needed to strengthen investigations into terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.
This is not limited to terrorist activity.
Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, said the data-sharing amendment would still give the Pentagon much greater access to the FBI's massive collection of data, including information on citizens not connected to terrorism or espionage.
The measure, she said, "removes one of the few existing privacy protections against the creation of secret dossiers on Americans by government intelligence agencies." She said the Pentagon's "intelligence agencies are quietly expanding their domestic presence without any public debate."
Pincus reports that all branches of the military are now involved in the snoop and tell business:
In addition, each of the military services has begun its own post-9/11 collection of domestic intelligence, primarily aimed at gathering data on potential terrorist threats to bases and other military facilities at home and abroad. For example, Eagle Eyes is a program set up by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which "enlists the eyes and ears of Air Force members and citizens in the war on terror," according to the program's Web site.
The Marine Corps has expanded its domestic intelligence operations and developed internal policies in 2004 to govern oversight of the "collection, retention and dissemination of information concerning U.S. persons," according to a Marine Corps order approved on April 30, 2004.
Some CIFA links to note:
If you'd like to know if CIFA is keeping information on you, here's how you can find out:
Individuals seeking to determine whether information about themselves is contained in this system of records should address written inquiries to the Privacy and Freedom of Information Coordinator, Counterintelligence Field Activity, 251 18th Street, Suite 1200, Arlington, VA, 22202-3537.
Requests should contain the individual's name, date of birth, sufficient information to determine the type of records being sought, and the approximate date the records might have been created.
It's time blogs began broadcasting this information. Why blogs? CIFA has been reading at least two: Jesus's General and Uncommon Thoughts reports on finding CIFA in its stats.
