Pentagon Sued Over Milblog-Monitoring
The digital rights crusaders over at the Electronic Frontier Foundation are suing the Department of Defense, "demanding expedited information on how the Army monitors soldiers' blogs," according to an EFF statement.
EFF filed its suit after the Department of Defense and Army failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about the blog monitoring program...
According to news reports [ahem, ahem], an Army unit called the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell (AWRAC) reviews hundreds of thousands of websites every month, notifying webmasters and bloggers when it sees information it finds inappropriate. Some bloggers have told reporters that they have cut back on their posts or shut down their sites altogether because of the activities of the AWRAC.
Well, not exactly. Most of the bloggers I've talked to dialed back their sites because of a more broad suspicion about blogging within the military community -- and unclear regulations about what can and can not be written online.
Still, the EFF's suit should be useful. Because the AWRAC's blog-eying regimen seemed almost laughably loose, when it was announced in October. The Army team "uses several scanning tools to monitor [these] sites for OPSEC [operational security] violations," the Army notes. "The tools search for such key words as 'for official use only' or 'top secret,' and records the number of times they are used on a site. Analysts review the results to determine which, if any, need further investigation."
The most common OPSEC violations found on official sites are For Official Use Only (FOUO) documents and limited distribution documents, as well as home addresses, birthdates and home phone numbers.
Unofficial blogs often show pictures with sensitive information in the background, including classified documents, entrances to camps or weapons. One Soldier showed his ammo belt, on which the tracer pattern was easily identifiable.
The EFF's suit "demands records on how the AWRAC conducts its monitoring, as well as any orders to soldiers about revision or deletion of web posts. It also demands expedited processing, as the information is urgently needed by the public."
"Of course, a military effort requires some level of secrecy. But the public has a right to know if the Army is silencing soldiers' opinions as well. That's why the Department of Defense must release information on how this program works without delay," EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann said.
ALSO:
* Army "Big Brother" Unit Targets Bloggers
* Another Milblogger Bows Out
* Yet Another Milblogger Forced Out
* Milblogger Clamp Down Blows Up
* Pentagon's Iraq Message: T.B.D.
* Army to Fake the News
* Yon vs. Military Flacks
* Aussie Military Bans Blogs
(Big ups: Ward)
I think that data can be gained access to by newsgroups or enemy militias gathering data and statistics to this site possibly forging ssn and dob of prior vets. Look at the data stolen from the veterans administration recently.Why was it stolen? What were they really after? Veterans identities? However, I thought that the site was only allowed by acessing militaries ssn and dob crossrefernced by address and phone number when you sign up to join from day one. At least I know my identity was confirmed at least once verbally and several times by e-mail. I also changed my password frequently for safety. Big brother allways monitors and audits. cid and mpi and s-4 track the criminals constantly. However, I can say that a newer improvised system of encryption could be encoded to allow access to certain threads by typing drivers liscences numbers or state ids to allow or deny access. A secondary check to see if who people who are reading are who they say they are. Identity theft is an issue. But some people are making a difference. Some stand out as leaders and are contributing to the war on terror globally . They should not be punished for contributing to the forums thinktanks especially the soldiers on the front lines risking their lives daily to protect us , this site is their safehaven and only link back to the real world before being re-deployed back home. However, if news companies are looking for an inline for a news front page news story, I cannot comment as to being an ex-public affairs officer. All i have to say about my prior military experience is that it was good. After that, good to .Before that good too. So what . I never really censored when I was in public affairs I just monitored the perspective criminals before cid or mpi got a hold of them and let them know the men with the sunglasses and the needle and the light were going to interrogate them in the back room. You know, the room that has the door that locks and does not reopen. For some reason they straightened up and flew right. Go figure.
Posted by: Max Anderson at February 13, 2007 2:42 AM