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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: February 2015

January 2015

• Transparency goes on holiday in Afghanistan by Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, January 29. "The Times reports that routine data used in the quarterly reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction for the past six years are now classified. Locked behind an appendix to the report that can only be read by those with high-level security clearances. That’s a decidedly small universe."
• How Is American Money Being Spent on Afghan Security Forces? It's Classified by Priyanka Boghani, PBS Frontline, January 29. "The United States Congress has appropriated nearly $65 billion towards training Afghan security forces since 2002 -- but how that money is spent just got a lot more difficult to track."
• U.S. military cited for increasing classification of information on Afghan forces by Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, January 29. "The top U.S. general in Afghanistan is increasingly classifying information about the Afghan military and police that had previously been released, an 'unprecedented' decision that keeps it from the American public, according to a new watchdog report."
• Public Knowledge for the Public Good: Working Toward Digital Access in the Spirit of Aaron Swartz by John Wihbey, Medium.com, January 28. "Despite the power of the Internet to 'liberate' information, it is clear that many problems will take public policy solutions and a lot of hard work."
• Torture if you Must, but do not Under Any Circumstances Call the New York Times by Dan Froomkin, The Intercept, January 27. "Monday's guilty verdict in the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling on espionage charges -- for talking to a newspaper reporter -- is the latest milepost on the dark and dismal path Barack Obama has traveled since his inaugural promises to usher in a 'new era of openness'."
• Ex-CIA officer convicted of leaking Iran plan by Tara McKelvey, BBC News, January 26. "A former CIA officer has been convicted of leaking classified details of a US operation against Iran to a reporter. Jeffrey Sterling denied the leak but was found guilty in a Virginia court of all nine counts he faced."
• TSA and Inspectors Tussle Over Redactions in JFK Tech Audit by Aliya Sternstein, NextGov, January 26. "An internal watchdog is calling for the Transportation Security Administration -- for the third time -- to make public portions of an audit on computer security at JFK Airport. But TSA maintains that all of the information is too national security-sensitive to release."
• IG Protests TSA's Edits of Audit Report, DHS Inspector General news release, January 23. "Roth, who termed the TSA action an abuse of the SSI classification, reluctantly issued a redacted version to the public. But he has furnished a full, unedited report to congressional committees with oversight over TSA."
• GOP Senator Wants to Make Sure the Full CIA Torture Report Never Sees the Light of Day by Jason Leopold, Vice News, January 21. "Last week, Senator Richard Burr asked the White House to return all copies of the document that were disseminated last month to executive branch officials by his predecessor, Dianne Feinstein, according to a copy of a one-page letter Burr sent to President Barack Obama and obtained by VICE News."
• C.I.A. Report Found Value of Brutal Interrogation Was Inflated by Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, January 20. "New details of the Panetta Review, presented last month by the C.I.A. inspector general in a briefing to the committee, came as Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the new chairman of the Intelligence Committee, wrote to President Obama with an odd request: He wants the committee's report back."
• Govt "Regrets Any Hardship" Caused to Detainee Abdullah al-Kidd, letter from the Justice Department, January 15. "The government acknowledges that your arrest and detention as a witness was a difficult experience for you and regrets any hardship or disruption to your life that may have resulted from your arrest and detention." (plus stipulation)
• CRS Report of the Week: State of the Union factoids by Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, January 16. "The Federation of American Scientists makes many CRS reports available, and the 2014 State of the Union report can be read in full here."
• New guidelines for US government leak inquiries leave journalists at risk by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, January 15. "Raft of new safeguards for journalists will not change Eric Holder and the Obama administration's legacy as enemies of the free press, observers say."
• Petition for Declassification of Annual Warhead Build Rate from the Federation of American Scientists, January 13. "The proposed declassification would enrich public understanding of the historical development of the U.S. stockpile. Disclosure of the actual build rate per year would add a dimension to the cold war historical narrative and bolster transparency in nuclear policy."
• Talk of Petraeus indictment raises legal questions for his ex-paramour by Michael Doyle, McClatchy News, January 12. "Former CIA Director David Petraeus is not the only one in potential legal jeopardy for the reported discovery of classified information on his former paramour's computer. Unauthorized recipients of classified information, too, can be prosecuted along with alleged leakers."
• Politicians stand by David Petraeus despite FBI leaks inquiry by Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, January 12. "Former CIA director is suspected of same crime as Edward Snowden yet enjoys the backing of Hillary Clinton, John McCain and other high-profile critics of leaks."
• Terror attack greets intelligence panel chief in first days on the job by Michael Doyle, McClatchy News, January 9. "And this was just the start for Rep. Devin Nunes, a 42-year-old lawmaker in his sixth term in the House of Representatives. Coming from a largely agricultural district in California's San Joaquin Valley, Nunes must now oversee a bureaucratically savvy and technically sophisticated community accustomed to keeping its own counsel."
• Dianne Feinstein's Torture Reform Proposals Don't Address The Real Problem, Advocates Say by Ali Watkins, Huffington Post, January 6. "Amid the public furor that followed the release of the Senate's gruesome investigation of the CIA's torture program, the stage was set for Congress to act. Yet former Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein is taking heat for a set of reform proposals that transparency and human rights advocates say miss the mark."
• Google's 'security princess' helped White House after hack by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Mashable, January 6. "After hackers breached its internal network in late October, the White House got the help of a Google security engineer, Parisa Tabriz, the company's self-proclaimed 'security princess'."
• Petition for Declassification of FY 2014 US Nuclear Stockpile Size from the Federation of American Scientists, January 6. "We request that the Department of Energy (and the Department of Defense) authorize the declassification of the size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and the number of weapons dismantled as of the end of fiscal year 2014."

Older News: December 2014

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Updated February 4, 2015