Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S.

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-09-26-civilian-spying_x.htm>

USA Today




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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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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