Open Source Intel Rocks — Sorry, It’s Classified

The head of the CIA doesn’t want you to know what he watches on television.

So-called “open source” intelligence — spook-speak for tidbits taken from newspapers, internet postings, and TV shows — is starting to play a major role in the nation’s spy agencies. That’s a major change, in a world that’s used to relying on secret satellites and clandestine agents. But old habits die hard. Open source intelligence may come from unclassified material that’s available to anyone with a TV or an internet connection. CIA chief Michael Hayden says the finished products have to be kept out of public view. They’re just too sensitive for average folks to see.

Source: Danger Room (Wired)

The Google Controversy — Two Years Later (PDF; 56 KB)

Two years have passed since Google startled the world with its free, online, high-resolution mapping products of the world. Foreign governments expressed their shock and concern about such detailed imagery in the hands of the general populace; their facilities and state secrets exposed to the world. “Today, with the advent of civilian satellites here and abroad, we have opened wide the window on places and events that, not so long ago, only spies could see,” writes Sharon Weinberger.

As the initial shock wore off, five main responses to the “Google threat” emerged from nations around the world: negotiations with Google, banning Google products, developing a similar product, taking evasive measures, and nonchalance. This report discusses foreign reporting and government response to the online mapping revolution after the initial brouhaha.

Source: Open Source Center (via Secrecy News)

From the announcement:

Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein announced today the establishment of the “Controlled Unclassified Information Office” (CUIO) within the National Archives and Records Administration. Weinstein also announced that William J. Bosanko, director of the Information Security Oversight Office, will head up this newly-formed office.

The Office is being created in response to the Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies on the Designation and Sharing of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) issued by President Bush on May 9, 2008. The Presidential memorandum designated the National Archives as responsible for overseeing and managing the implementation of the CUI framework.

Source: NARA

From Secrecy News

A new searchable index of hundreds of thousands of documents held by
the Air Force Historical Research Agency has been created by private
researchers and posted online.

http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/

The index does not provide access to the underlying documents, which
must be requested from AFHRA. Nevertheless, it has several interesting
features.

For one thing, it represents a step forward in improving accessibility
to declassified government records. The new Air Force index provides a
simple illustration of what can be done to alert the interested public
to the existence of particular records, and suggests how much more
still needs to be done, including providing online access to the
records themselves.

Second, the new index represents an unusual, implicit public-private
partnership. Researchers gained access to the Air Force bibliographical
data and installed a search engine on top, then posted it online in the
public interest. The researchers said they preferred to remain
anonymous.

From the news release:

The number of intercepted wire, oral or electronic communications — also known as wiretaps — authorized by federal and state courts in 2007 was 20 percent higher than in 2006. Courts issued 2,208 such orders in 2007, compared to 1,839 in 2006, according to The 2007 Wiretap Report.

Source: U.S. Courts

Word from the UK’s Publishing Tech (parent of Ingenta) that they are working with BBC Monitoring to launch a new web site and database. Free trials are available for academic libraries around the globe.
From an e-mail received on Wednesday:

It’s a comprehensive source of global current affairs content (it collates content from over 3000 sources in 150 countries) and the web platform has been specifically designed to meet the needs of the academic/institutional market. Our PCG divison is selling the new service and is currently offering free trials to academic libraries - they just need to contact bbcmonitoringlibrary@pcgplus.com to sign up.

To learn more about the new BBC Monitoring service for academic libraries, check this news release.

These news notes are organized by the strategic directions identified in the ARL Strategic Plan: Scholarly Communication; Public Policies Affecting Research Libraries; and Library Roles in Research, Teaching, and Learning. In addition, there is an initial section for Governance and Membership Activities and complementary sections on Diversity, Professional Workforce, and Leadership Development; Library Statistics and Assessment; and Other Items of Interest to ARL Directors

Source: ARL

2009 U.S. Government Budget

The Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009 contains the Budget Message of the President, information on the
President’s budget and management priorities, and budget overviews organized by agency.

The askSam version of the Budget allows you to search, browse, and analyze the budget text. You can search the budget online or
download it to your computer and search using your copy of askSam or the free askSam Viewer.

Access to Information: Greater Use of Privilege Spurs Concern

The U.S. government has been increasing its use of the state secrets privilege to avoid disclosure of classified information in civil lawsuits, prompting legislation in the Senate that would provide more congressional oversight of the practice.

Chart: Classified Information

Published cases of government use of the state secrets privilege have grown over the past 35 years.

Source: The Washington Post

Lists & Rankings: America’s Richest Counties
From the article:
t’s easy to assume that the nation’s richest counties dot the tri-state area around New York City, or San Francisco’s Bay Area. Homeowners there, after all, shell out millions of dollars for small luxuries such as a lawn and a garage.

But while affluent areas such as Nassau County, on New York’s Long Island, and Marin County, just north of San Francisco, boast well-off residents, the nation’s wealthiest live in the D.C. suburbs.

Fairfax County, Va., Loudoun County, Va., and Howard County, Md., top the list of America’s richest counties, which we based on median household income data from the 2006 census. In Fairfax, that number reaches $100,318 a year; Loudoun households pull down a livable $99,371 a year; Howard residents follow at $92,260.

Direct to Complete List of Counties

Source: Forbes

Global Travel Security Alerts from DiplomacyMonitor.com
We regularly write about and link to the excellent work being done at DiplomacyMonitor.com where you can find primary documents (in near real-time) from governments around the globe. All of the content is searchable and is also cached locally.

NEW on the site is Travel Security Alerts at its own url: http://travelsecurityalerts.com/ where you can find alerts from various governments. Useful and interesting to read how the same event or security matter is described by different countries.

The Travel Security Alerts database currently references 3,428 travel alerts and security profiles.

Source: DiplomacyMonitor.com

CIA: FOIA: Reading Room: 43 New Documents Added
New Documents! 43 new documents have been added to the site.

Source: CIA

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress
(PDF; 161 KB)

The collection and analysis of OSINT information will be ultimately judged by its contribution to the overall intelligence effort. Collecting information from open sources is generally less expensive and less risky than collection from other intelligence sources. The use of OSINT may result not only in monetary savings but also in less risk than utilizing sensitive technical and human sources. OSINT can also provide insights into the types of developments that may not be on the priority list for other systems or may not be susceptible to collection through other intelligence approaches — innovative applications of new technologies, shifts in popular attitudes, emergence of new political and religious movements, growing popular discontent, disillusionment with leadership, etc. Supporters of OSINT maintain that the future contribution of the Intelligence Community will be enhanced by its ability to provide detailed information and incisive analyses of such developments. This report will be updated as new information becomes available.

Source: Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists) (via DocuTicker)