Homeland Security drops satellite snooping

The Homeland Security Department said Tuesday that it will not use satellites for domestic-terrorism surveillance, however the technology can continue to be used to respond to natural disasters.

The National Applications Office (NAO) was created by the department in 2007 to take over mapping responsibilities and was authorized to expand the technology’s use for the prevention and response to a terrorist attack.

The expanded program was authorized by George W. Bush administration officials, however it was never operational.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano reached the decision to shutter the program after a five-month review and discussions with law enforcement officials and members of Congress who said it would trample civil liberty rights.

“This action will allow us to focus our efforts on more effective information sharing programs that better meet the needs of law enforcement, protect the civil liberties and privacy of all Americans, and make our country more secure,” Miss Napolitano said.

According to a June 21 letter to Miss Napolitano from a national police organization obtained by The Washington Times, the office is “not an issue of urgency” to law enforcement.

“Our goal is effective sharing of law enforcement information that protects the privacy and civil liberties of Americans and we are thus committed to a national framework of privacy and civil liberty protections,” said the letter from the Major Cities Chiefs Association signed by Los Angeles police Chief William J. Bratton.

Instead, the association urged Miss Napolitano to focus the department on information-sharing with state and local agencies.

Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Miss Napolitano’s decision is a “very big mistake.”

“This is definitely a step back in the war on terror,” Mr. King said. “In the last two years, I have never had one local police official raise objections to it. But we have a letter from Bratton dated Sunday now saying they don’t support it? I don’t buy it.”

However, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and committee chairman, welcomed the announcement.

“The secretary’s decision is an endorsement of this committees long-held position on the NAO,” Mr. Thompson said.

“From the very beginning, our members were the first to shine a light on this poorly conceived proposal that lacked the necessary civil liberties protections or law enforcement utility,” Mr. Thompson said.

Historically, the technology was used to map natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, to assist agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Charles Allen, chief intelligence officer of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, told the House Homeland Security Committee in a Sept. 6, 2007, hearing, that law enforcement routinely accessed the imagery technology.

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