(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability announced Friday that it’s obtained a trove of records about how the government uses online commercial data—including records about the Defense Intelligence Agency’s use of such data for “cover operations.”
What exactly that means isn’t quite clear.
“Does this mean DIA is using data to help agents impersonate real people?” the PPSA asked when announcing its findings. “Or is DIA using our personal information as material from which to create fake, chimeric identities, using a blend of personal information from multiple real people?”
The records obtained by PPSA follow a declassified report issued last week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which confirmed that U.S. agencies are bulk purchasing social media, cell phone and other commercial data.
The report lacked specifics on how agencies are using the data. When it comes to the DIA, the report said the agency “provides funding to another agency that purchases commercially available geolocation metadata aggregated from smartphones.”
The DIA—the Pentagon’s main intelligence agency—did not immediately respond to a Headline USA email asking the same questions as the PPSA.
Along with uncovering records about the DIA’s “cover operations,” PPSA also found information about how the FBI uses internet data.
According to records obtained by PPSA, the FBI has a team dedicated to working with cell tower data.
“Their specialties include ‘historical CDR (call detail records) analysis and geospatial mapping,’ which enables the tracking of people across multiple towers,” PPSA said. “The FBI conducts ‘tower dump analysis,’ which seems to be the collection of bulk data from cell towers and ‘real-time cellular tracking’ services.”
PPSA added that the FBI regularly lends out its geolocation services to state and local governments, according to the records.
“These are just glimpses into how the government uses our personal information, from our movements to our personal interests, relationships, and beliefs,” the privacy watchdog said. “PPSA will continue to use FOIAs and lawsuits to dig out more details about these practices.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
