FBI Revealed

First the CIA starts letting journalists into its museum, then the FBI tells NPR how it goes about following people. Hey guys? Aren't you supposed to be, you know, discreet? Oh sure, you gave NPR fake names and asked them not to describe you, but explaining how a group might follow a person gives all of us some pretty good clues as to what to look for if we're ever worried we're being followed (hint: if someone in an FBI jacket is rifling through your trunk, you're probably being investigated). Are they just banking on terrorists not liking NPR?

A Camera Trained on Nothing Catches Nothing

A federal courthouse in San Diego was shut down today after a suspected pipe bomb blast exploded through its front entrance early Sunday. No one was hurt in the blast, but debris wound up on the 8th floor of the building facing the courthouse, so it was clearly not a minor explosion. Authorities are collecting evidence, but much of it is in the form of debris because, while the courthouse does have surveillance cameras, according to authorities none of those cameras are trained on the entrance door. I find that pretty amazing.

"It's too early to tell if it's terrorism-related," FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth said about the blast. "It does not appear to be right now."

How can the FBI tell if a bomb blast is terror-related when they have no evidence at all pointing to who may have planted the bomb?

This case really underscores the importance of not just having a surveillance system but having the right system, set up correctly. Why spend money and time on surveillance cameras if they are not catching what you need? Security personnel set up surveillance systems to catch suspects in exactly these sorts of situations, when the retrieval of accurate, relevant evidence is crucial.

FBI Wants Palm Prints, Eye Scans, Tattoo Mapping

CLARKSBURG, West Virginia (CNN) -- The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists. But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans. The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10 year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information -- from palm prints to eye scans.

Given the recent request for a $3 trillion budget, $1 billion doesn’t seem like all that much anymore.

FBI Has It's Ways

George Christian, Executive Director of a consortium of 27 libraries, received a National Security Letter, in July of 2005 after a library patron’s online activity garnered the attention of the FBI. As a result, until recently he’s been under a strict gag order:

Christian is just one of an estimated 300,000 people who have received National
Security Letters requesting access to personal data. Phone records, Internet
usage, bank statements and telephone conversations are just some types of
information agents have gathered either through National Security Letters or
surveillance.

Interesting. And then there is this tidbit:

“I said you are asking for what we know about the user of an IP address [a
series of numbers that identifies a specific user on the Internet] for 45
minutes five months ago,” Christian said. “There’s just no way. And quite
seriously the agent looked at me said, ‘No, we have ways.’ ”