Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: GOOD morning AMERIKA (buona lettura)

Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S.
By Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press
BETHESDA, Md. — In the name of homeland security, America's spy
imagery agency is keeping a close eye, close to home. It's watching
America. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, about 100 employees of a
little-known branch of the Defense Department called the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — and some of the country's most
sophisticated aerial imaging equipment — have focused on observing
what's going on in the United States.
Their work brushes up against the fine line between protecting the
public and performing illegal government spying on Americans.
Roughly twice a month, the agency is called upon to help with the
security of events inside the United States. Even more routinely, it
is asked to help prepare imagery and related information to protect
against possible attacks on critical sites.
For instance, the agency has modified basic maps of the nation's
capital to highlight the location of hospitals, linking them to data
on the number of beds or the burn unit in each. To secure the Ronald
Reagan funeral procession, the agency merged aerial photographs and 3D
images, allowing security planners to virtually walk, drive or fly
through the Simi Valley, Calif., route.
The agency is especially watchful of big events or targets that might
attract terrorists — political conventions, for example, or nuclear
power plants.
Everyone agrees that the domestic mission of the NGA has increased
dramatically in the wake of Sept. 11, even though laws and carefully
crafted regulations are in place to prevent government surveillance
aimed at Americans.
The agency is not interested in information on U.S. citizens, stresses
Americas office director Bert Beaulieu. "We couldn't care less about
individuals and people and companies," he said.
But that's not good enough for secrecy expert Steven Aftergood, who
oversees a project on government secrecy for the Federation of
American Scientists. "What it all boils down to is 'Trust us. Our
intentions are good,'" he said.
Adds Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center in Washington: "As a general matter, when there are
systems of public surveillance, there needs to be public oversight."
Geospatial intelligence is the science of combining imagery, such as
satellite pictures, to physically depict features or activities
happening anywhere on the planet.
Outside the United States, it can be a powerful tool for war planners
who may use imagery to measure soil wetness to determine if tanks
could travel an area. It can help weapons proliferation experts look
for ground disturbances that can indicate new underground bunkers.
Before Sept. 11, the NGA's domestic work often meant things like
lending a hand during natural disasters by supplying pictures of
wildfires and floods.
But now the agency's new Americas Office has been called on to
assemble visual information on more than 130 urban areas, among scores
of other assignments, including maps of the national mall, the
country's high-voltage transmission lines and disaster exercises.
Sometimes, agency officials may cooperate with private groups, such as
hotel security offices, to get access to video footage of lobbies and
hallways. That footage can then be connected with other types of maps
used to secure events — or to take action, if a hostage situation or
other catastrophe happens.
The level of detail varies widely, depending on the threat and what
the FBI or another agency needs.
"In most cases, it's not intrusive," said the NGA's associate general
counsel, Laura Jennings. "It is information to help secure an event
and to have people prepared to respond should there be an attack, or
to analyze the area where a threat has been made."
According to Executive Order 12333, signed by President Reagan in
1981, members of the U.S. intelligence community can collect, retain
and pass along information about U.S. companies or people only in
certain cases.
Information that is publicly available or collected with the consent
of the individual is fair game, as is information acquired by overhead
reconnaissance not directed at specific people or companies.
The NGA says it has aggressive internal oversight and its employees go
through annual training on what is and isn't allowed.
"If they deviated from their own rules, how would it be discovered?"
asks secrecy expert Aftergood. "I am not satisfied that they have an
answer to that question."
One oversight committee in Congress noticed after Sept. 11 that an
intelligence agency was snapping pictures of the United States, said a
congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. A staff member
is now monitoring the issue, and the aide said so far problems have
not been spotted.
But Aftergood notes that while intelligence budgets have increased
dramatically in the last five years, congressional oversight budgets
have not.
Even the agency concedes gray areas do emerge.
Generally, for example, intelligence resources can't be used for law
enforcement purposes. So the FBI or another agency could use an
NGA-produced aerial photograph to solve a domestic crime. But the NGA
couldn't take actions to target a specific individual, such as
highlight a suspect's home, unless the information was linked directly
to a national security issue.
Agency officials call that "passive assistance" and say certain legal
tests must be met.
Law enforcement officials occasionally ask if the agency has
information that could provide evidence about a crime — say, for
example, whether a white truck was at a location at a certain time,
Beaulieu said hypothetically.
"Yes, we will do a check," he said. "But I can't remember a single
case where we actually even had an image for that day."
Jennings concedes that toeing such fine lines can be difficult.
"We look, we check, and it just so happens that we haven't had a
situation where there is a smoking gun," she said. "We would analyze
each one, case by case."
"Everybody wants to do the right thing and provide the information
that is appropriate without overstepping their authority," she later
added.
The NGA says it is working to build trust — with the public and with
private companies.
Before Sept. 11, for instance, chemical plants and other critical
sites weren't as cooperative as they are today, out of fear that
aerial photographs might be shared with federal environmental
regulators. NGA officials say the Homeland Security Department has
been careful to protect proprietary information.
What if NGA analysts were to see an environmental crime?
"I don't think any of my people know enough to know an environmental
crime," Beaulieu said.
--
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Sinistra liberal - 
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       Venerdė: al primo mattino probabili nubi basse e foschie anche dense nelle
valli, in dissolvimento. In mattinata cielo prevalentemente soleggiato, ma
con tendenza a lieve aumento della nuvolositā medio-alta dai quadranti
occidentali. Nel pomeriggio cielo parzialmente soleggiato per banchi di nubi
medio-alte e locali annuvolamenti cumuliformi, pių estesi sulle Prealpi dove
non sono da escludere del tutto isolati deboli piovaschi. Temperature
stazionarie o in lieve aumento le massime. Zero termico nella libera
atmosfera a 3200 m alle ore 12. Venti in quota moderati dai quadranti
occidentali; deboli o moderati per brezze nelle valli.
 
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