Via InformationWeek -
The Department of Homeland Security postponed plans this week for an office that would oversee domestic spy satellite images, after members of the U.S. House of Representatives raised concerns about privacy.
The House Committee on Homeland Security announced Monday that the DHS would delay the opening of a new National Applications Office. The Committee issued a statement explaining that the moratorium is just the first step in ensuring that privacy, civil liberties, and the U.S. Constitution are protected with the opening of the office.
Domestic satellite programs are nothing new. U.S. defense agencies use satellite imagery to monitor natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods. But the DNS said it would like to expand the use of satellites to help national security and law enforcement officials combat crime.
The Committee asked for an opportunity to review the NAO's written legal framework, offer comments, and shape procedures and protocols.
"Turning this technology on the homeland without a written legal framework for operations is a recipe for disaster," U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a prepared statement.
U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat who chairs the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, said the delay provides Congress with the "rare chance" to review a proposed surveillance program before it is implemented.
The office was scheduled to launch Monday, but members of the House held hearings and sent letters (PDF) questioning privacy protections and demanding oversight. Members also threatened to block funding of the office if their questions were not answered.
The letters stated that NAO's plans to share domestic spy images with state, local, and tribal law enforcement represented a "dramatic expansion" of the use of domestic satellite images that "raises very significant Constitutional, legal and organizational issues."
The letters pointed out that over the last three years, four DHS programs were cancelled or suspended for failure to comply with privacy rules and regulations.
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Here is the NAO's Fact Sheet as released by DHS.
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