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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: December 2013

November 2013

• Obama's overhaul of spy programs so far cloaked in more secrecy by Anita Kumar, McClatchy Newspapers, November 25. "Obama has been gradually tweaking his vast government surveillance policies. But he is not disclosing those changes to the public. Has he stopped spying on friendly world leaders? He won't say. Has he stopped eavesdropping on the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund? He won't say."
• Want A File From The NSA? You Can Ask, But You Might Not Get It by Emily Siner, National Public Radio, November 23. "Since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the agency's intelligence-gathering activities last summer, the NSA has been bombarded with requests for its records."
• White House Orders Massive Review of Security Clearances by Denver Nicks, Time Swampland, November 21. "The Obama administration has ordered a reassessment of the government's process for granting security clearances and a top-to-bottom review of each of the nearly five million people who are currently authorized to see classified information in the United States."
• Is the White House ready to take up classification reform? by Sean Reilly, Federal Times, November 20. "The Public Interest Declassification Board meets publicly tomorrow amid anticipation that the Obama administration may at last take up the panel's recommendations for modernizing the national security classification system."
• DOD Statement on Safeguarding Unclassified Controlled Technical Information, November 19. "Protection of technical information is a high priority for the department and is critical to preserving the intellectual property and competitive capabilities of our national industrial base. This information, while unclassified, is comprised of data concerning defense systems requirements, concepts of operations, technologies, designs, engineering, production and manufacturing capabilities."
• Former ISOO Director J. William Leonard on Abuse of Classification Authority, letter to Information Security Oversight Office, October 18. "I am extremely concerned that the integrity of the classification system continues to be severely undermined by the complete absence of accountability in instances such as this clear abuse of classification authority."
• Snowden persuaded other NSA workers to give up passwords - sources by Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel, Reuters, November 7. "Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden used login credentials and passwords provided unwittingly by colleagues at a spy base in Hawaii to access some of the classified material he leaked to the media, sources said."
• Unmanned Aerial Systems Privacy Requirements, and Response to Comments, Federal Aviation Administration, November 7.
• Mystery shrouds plans for release of ObamaCare enrollment data by Elise Viebeck, The Hill, November 5. "The Obama administration said it will publish Affordable Care Act enrollment data next week, but has repeatedly refused to disclose which figures it plans to release."
• In plain sight by Laura Blasey, University of Maryland Diamondback, November 5. "From PRISM and Upstream to programs not yet known to the public, the government has relied on research partnerships with the country's scientists and public universities for years. But critics and supporters alike said reconciling traditionally open lab environments and the need to protect sensitive information is a continuing challenge."
• Sequester accelerated decline in intel spending by Sean Reilly, Federal Times, November 4. "The fiscal 2013 sequester cost the intelligence community more than $4 billion as it chopped overall spending from $71.9 billion to $67.6 billion, according to newly disclosed figures."
• UK: Snowden reporter's partner involved in 'espionage' and 'terrorism' by Mark Hosenball, Reuters, November 1. "British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in 'terrorism' when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents."

Older News: October 2013

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated December 2, 2013