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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: April 2013

March 2013

• A New Trove of NSA Documents Reveal What Spies Read for Fun by Eli Lake, The Daily Beast, March 29. "This month the National Security Agency (NSA) declassified 23 years' worth of issues of 'Cryptolog,' the newsletter written by and for the code-breakers, linguists, and computer scientists at the U.S. government's most secretive intelligence organization. The issues span from 1974 to 1997."
• Database Is Shut Down by NASA for a Review by Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, March 22. "NASA has shut down a large public database and is limiting access to agency facilities by foreign citizens as part of a broader investigation into efforts by China and other countries to get information about important technology."
• NASA Pulls Technical Database Offline During Security Investigation by Mike Wall, Space.com, March 22. "NASA has taken its huge database of technical reports offline in response to the arrest last weekend of a former contractor suspected of spying for China."
• In a Reversal, Senate Intelligence Panel to Release Vote Tallies by Matt Fuller, Roll Call, March 22. "The Senate Intelligence Committee announced that it will now disclose which senators vote for or against measures and nominations in committee, chipping away at a panel tradition of secrecy that government watchdogs say has shielded members from public scrutiny."
• Privacy concerns held back plans to share financial data with U.S. spy agencies by Mark Hosenball and Stella Dawson, Reuters / Trustlaw, March 22. "The U.S. government has considered giving spy agencies instant access to a huge database of suspicious financial transactions submitted by U.S.-based banks for many years, but government agencies until now were reluctant to move forward due to privacy and policy concerns, according to current and former U.S. officials."
• Anti-drone revolt prompts push for new federal, state laws by Declan McCullagh, CNET News, March 22. "Concerns about privacy, facial recognition, cell phone tracking, and infrared surveillance have dealt a setback to law enforcement's growing enthusiasm for aerial drones."
• OPM Proposes Changes to SF 86, Security Clearance Questionnaire, Federal Register, March 12. "The SF 86 is completed by civilian employees of the Federal Government, military personnel, and non-federal employees, including Federal contractors and individuals otherwise not directly employed by the Federal Government but who perform work for or on behalf of the Federal Government."
• Sunshine Week: Obama has mixed record on open government, Buffalo News, March 8. "Add it all up, and Obama's record on opening the government is a mixed bag, said several open government experts interviewed for this story."
• Ron Wyden says CIA confirmation battle was about more than drones by Charles Pope, The Oregonian, March 7. "Our unique form of government is based on a system of checks and balances that will be here long after the current president and individual senators are gone," Wyden said from the Senate floor Wednesday. "Those checks and balances depend on robust congressional oversight."
• House orders Pentagon to disclose domestic drone use by Declan McCullagh, CNET News, March 7. "The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to require the Defense Department to disclose whether military drones are being operated domestically to conduct surveillance on American citizens."
• Long-ago wiretap inspires a battle with the CIA for more information by Ian Shapira, Washington Post, March 2. "So far, the CIA has released to Jim a handful of intriguing documents. But Jim has been trying to compel the agency to cough up more. A federal declassification review panel is reviewing Jim's case and could decide as soon as this month whether to direct the CIA to release more Mockingbird documents."

Older News: February 2013

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Updated April 11, 2013