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Newer News: December 2014

November 2014 Intelligence News

• Ruppersberger nearing end of 12-year run on House intel committee by John Fritze, Baltimore Sun, November 30. "Ruppersberger's tenure on the panel has coincided with monumental changes in national security -- as well as a contentious debate over privacy concerns that reached an apex last year when Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, leaked documents revealing the government's massive data collection programs."
• National Archives backing away from CIA e-mail destruction plan by Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, November 26. "The National Archives is rethinking its preliminary blessing of a CIA plan to eventually destroy all e-mail messages sent by non-senior officials. Criticism of the plan from senior lawmakers and public interest groups raised concerns 'about the scope' of the CIA's plan, said Paul M. Wester Jr., the National Archives and Records Administration chief records officer in a Nov. 20 letter to the CIA."
• NARA to Reassess CIA Email Destruction Proposal, letter to CIA, November 20. "Based on comments from Members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a number of public interest groups, we are concerned about the scope of the proposed schedule and the proposed retention periods."
• NARA Informs SSCI that CIA email proposal will be reassessed, letter to Senators Feinstein and Chambliss, November 21. "We appreciate your interest in this issue and look forward to working with the Committee in the coming months as NARA establishes appropriate dispositions for email records at the CIA."
• DoD Releases Revised Military Intelligence Program Request for Fiscal Year 2015, news release, November 21. "The total request, which includes both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) appropriations, is $16.6 billion."
• DNI Releases Updated Budget Request for FY 2015 National Intelligence Program, news release, November 21. "The updated aggregate amount of appropriations requested for the FY 2015 National Intelligence Program is $50.4 billion."
• NARA Will Reassess CIA Email Disposal Plan, letter to Senators Wyden, Udall, Heinrich, November 21. "Based on the comments and concerns that you and others have raised, we have informed the CIA that we need to reassess their proposed schedule, including the scope of the senior leadership positions and the proposed retention periods." (via Huffington Post)
• The CIA Wants To Delete Old Email; Critics Say 'Not So Fast' by David Welna, NPR All Things Considered, November 20. "It's a question we've all wrestled with: Which emails should be saved and which ones should be deleted? The Central Intelligence Agency thinks it's found the answer, at least as far as its thousands of employees and contractors are concerned: Sooner or later, the spy agency would destroy every email except those in the accounts of its top 22 officials."
• Top Senators Oppose CIA Move to Destroy Email by Siobhan Gorman, Wall Street Journal, November 19. "The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate intelligence committee announced Wednesday their opposition to a move by the Central Intelligence Agency to eventually destroy email of all but a small number of top agency officials."
• Did The National Archives Give The CIA Permission To Destroy Evidence? by Ali Watkins, Huffington Post, November 19. "The tentative approval of the new record-keeping strategy has set off a firestorm between the CIA and its critics, including the agency's congressional overseers. The CIA insists that it'll actually be keeping more extensive records under the new system."
• Before Snowden, a debate inside NSA by Ken Dilanian, Associated Press, November 19. "Years before Edward Snowden sparked a public outcry with the disclosure that the National Security Agency had been secretly collecting American telephone records, some NSA executives voiced strong objections to the program, current and former intelligence officials say. The program exceeded the agency's mandate to focus on foreign spying and would do little to stop terror plots, the executives argued."
• Statement of Administration Policy on USA Freedom Act, November 17. "The bill strengthens the FISA's privacy and civil liberties protections, while preserving essential authorities that our intelligence and law enforcement professionals need. The bill would prohibit bulk collection through the use of Section 215, FISA pen registers, and National Security Letters while maintaining critical authorities to conduct more targeted collection."
• Keeping Secrets by Henry Corrigan-Gibbs, Stanford Magazine, November 7. "Four decades ago, university researchers figured out the key to computer privacy, sparking a battle with the National Security Agency that continues today."
• New Oil & Gas Industry Intel Network Circumvents FOIA law by Adam Federman, Earth Island Journal, November 10. "In the last decade a number of different industries ranging from financial services and health care to nuclear energy and defense have created what are known as Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs). They allow member companies to share information anonymously without fear that it will be subject to FOIA requests or anti-trust violations. Now the oil and gas industry is getting in on the act."
• Furor Over CIA Shake-Up of Email System by Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service, November 7. "Nearly three months after the CIA received preliminary approval on a plan for destroying the emails of 'non-senior' staff, open-government groups have raised alarm about a document so seemingly innocuous it almost escaped notice."