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)
Interesting post. The EFF is right to try to get some transparency here. Were there data available on the Pentagon’s use of this monitoring, I expect that it would follow the same kind of pattern as the military’s use of Smart Filter: arbitrary with a strong ideological bias.
It certain looks like big brother is hard at work here. Can’t blame them for being paranoid as GWB is requesting over 600 billions for the military so that his buddies in this military and industrial complex would be well paid and looked after at the expense of us — the taxpayers. Well I think this administration ought to talk nicely to the Chinese, the Japanese and the rest of the world such that we could borrow more than what we can ever hope to repay them. It’s hard to believe this administration would mortgage our children’s future to finance his stupid way of life.
I still have letters that my Pop sent to my Mom during WWII. Some have little rectangles cut out of them. I’m sure some of the excisions were silly, but there was “…A WAR ON…”.
If anyone asserts that the internet is secure, then I’d like to show them this bridge for sale.
I think that there are some young and hungry attorneys hoping to make a lucrative Rep for themselves.
I think that the pentagon has every right in the world to censor websites in regards to our mission. We have censored for as long as we have been a country and need to continue. If we are allowed to post secrets we will ensure the failure of our overall mission which it the protection of this great nation.
Well.
As an individiual woiht a blog who has been contacted by the program I can’t find anything offensive about it.
I wasn’t ordered to do anything. I simply received an e-mail that said, we noticed you posted X and that might not be such a good idea if you think about it.
I thought about it and adjusted fire.
As for monitoring… so what? We chose to put our ramblings out there in public in order for people to see it. I can divine no expectation of privacy here. And we, as Soldiers Sailors, Marines and Airmen, have (lightly) proscribed 1st amendment rights in otehr media.
Finally, the DoD had a duty to protect its members and to assess risk to us. So… I can find no foul here.
I stronly suspect that the “monitoring” is no more than subscribing to RSS feeds and occassional visits to sites that don’t have them.