Documents released on April 2, 2013 reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) produced daily briefings on peaceful Occupy protesters during the height of the movement last year. The 252 pages of documents were released on March 14 to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) through a Freedom of Information Act request (the original documents can be viewed online).

We reported last January about the ways in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) worked with the New York Exchange and other corporate entities to share information about Occupy events as “potential terrorist threats.” Another report from October 2012 described how the federal government has been using anti-terrorism techniques to spy on peaceful activists. Police brutality has been a common issue during Occupy protests.

The latest documents show the Department of Homeland Security, created to counter terrorist activity, was also involved with the surveillance. The new information also shows that the surveillance was not limited to the New York City Occupy movement but also happened in Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami Minneapolis, and other cities. Information was gathered from news reports, in social media sites, and in online chat rooms and shared in illegal “fusion centers” between the DHS, FBI, local police, and other government agencies who collaborated to spy on and stifle “occupy-type” protests. The briefings included a specific section for “Peaceful Activist Demonstrations,” even though those same events are clearly protected by the Bill of Rights.

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• 4/9, Joseph Menn, Reuters, Exclusive: Homeland Security deputy to quit; defended civilian Internet role
• 4/9, Bloomberg News, Newsday, Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act gains personal data controls to win Obama support
• 4/8, Janet Napolitano, Politico, Cyber education key to security
• 4/8, Angela Woodall, Mercury News, Homeland Security anti-terror money in Bay Area funds drones, surveillance and emergency equipment
• 4/8, Natasha Lennard, Salon, EFF and ACLU team up against CISPA
• 4/8, Ken Hanly, Digital Journal, Op-Ed: UN High Commisionner claims Guantanamo violates international law
• 4/8, Brendan Sasso and Jennifer Martinez, The Hill, Privacy groups skeptical of CISPA changes
• 4/7, Christopher Robbins, Gothamist, Ray Kelly Changed “Nothing” About How NYPD Spies On Muslims

This week, BORDC participated in the week of action against CISPA,the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Participants ranged from civil liberties advocates to major companies. Craigslist, Firefox, and Reddit all displayed anti-CISPA messages that allowed users to connect with online action opportunities. Since the week of action began, the list of supporters has continued to grow daily.

As we wrote several weeks ago, CISPA is back in front of Congress after it elicited significant opposition from the privacy and civil liberties world last year. Even those who argue that some form of cybersecurity is needed acknowledge that there are serious flaws in CISPA as written. The bill is riddled with problematic provisions, including immunity from civil or criminal liability for companies who share users’ private information with the government, the ability to use intelligence information information they receive from the government for reasons completely unrelated to cybersecurity, including  commercial purposes, and authorization to share information directly with the National Security Agency.

While many of the major corporations that supported the bill last year have maintained that support, there is one noteable absence: Facebook. While the company has not come out in vocal opposition, Facebook reps did tell Cnet that the company: “prefer[s] a legislative ‘balance’ that ensures ‘the privacy of our users.’” Microsoft is also absent from the list of CISPA supporters this year, while other big corporations like AT&T and IBM continue to support the legislation.

That support has not only taken the form of letters sent to the House Intelligence Committee. One of the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-08-R) made a major gaffe this week. He retweeted a a story that revealed that members of the House Intelligence Committee “have received, on average, 15 times more money in campaign contributions from pro-CISPA organizations than from anti-CISPA organizations.” He deleted his tweet 23 minutes later, but not before the Sunlight Foundation got a screen shot of it. His tweet is a prime example of why CISPA is so concerning; it is being driven by the lobbying of corporations with horrible privacy track records that will be shielded from liability and potentially make millions off shared information.

At this point, it is likely that a vote on CISPA will take place in mid-April, which means there is still plenty of time to contact your representative to tell them what you know about the bill. Be sure to watch our blog, as well as BORDC ally EFF’s homepage for continuing updates.

• 3/17, Matthew L. Wald, New York Times, Domestic Drones Stir Imaginations, and Concerns
• 3/17, Aliya Sternstein, NextGov, DHS Cyber Czar Mark Weatherford to step down
• 3/16, Jillian Rayfield, Salon, Islamophobia still has its place at CPAC
• 3/15, Robyn Greene, ACLU, Intel Officials Admit “Cyber Pearl Harbor” Unlikely Soon, Agree Cyber Should be Kept in Civilian Hands
• 3/15, Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, FBI surveillance tool is ruled unconstitutional
• 3/15, Peter Finn and Julie Tate, Washington Post, Appeals court rejects CIA’s argument over acknowledging drone operations

President Obama has had a complex (and somewhat contradictory) stance on immigration for as long as he has been in office.  His administration has proudly touted its aim to deport record numbers of  undocumented immigrants, while simultaneously pushing for the passage of the DREAM act, which would grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants who fall into one of two socially acceptable categories: those willing to risk their lives for the United States military, and those who are interested in pursuing a college degree.

Immigrants not interested in either of the two straight-and-narrow paths offered by the DREAM act can say goodbye to a life in the U.S.

The exact number of undocumented immigrants deported under Obama is somewhat unclear. Some sources report over 400,000 in the 2012 fiscal year alone and a continuous increase in removals since President Bush left office, while other sources suggest these numbers have been inflated, and that there has actually been a steady decrease in deportation since Obama first came to office in 2008.

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• 3/12, Valerie Tilson, RGJ.com, Support fight against indefinite detention
• 3/11, Ralph Benko, Forbes, 1.6 Billion Rounds Of Ammo For Homeland Security? It’s Time For A National Conversation
• 3/11, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, White House Changing Story on Anwar al-Awlaki? A Debate on NYT’s Inside Account of ’11 Drone Strike
• 3/11, Michael Gerson, Washington Post, Rand Paul masks his true worldview
• 3/11, Susan Stellin, New York Times, Airport Screening Concerns Civil Liberties Groups
• 3/11, Paul Szoldra, Business Insider, The FBI Goes To Disturbing Lengths To Set Up Potential Terrorists
• 3/11, Falguni A. Sheth, Salon, New York’s finest Islamophobes
• 3/11, John Knefel, Rolling Stone Magazine, Police Spying on American Muslims Is a Pointless National Shame
• 3/11, Thomas Nephew, Indypendent, Broad coalition fights against the NDAA, for HB558, and for the right to due process

The Cyber Information and Sharing Act (CISPA) was first introduced last year by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). It received widespread opposition, including a veto threat from President Obama, in addition to a petition with over 800,000 signatures, and a widespread online campaign dubbed “Stop Cyber Spying week.”

Support for the bill came mainly from big corporations such as Facebook, whose VP for Public Policy, Joel Kaplan, stated in a letter to the House Intelligence Committee and the bill’s sponsors:

Your legislation removes burdensome rules that currently can inhibit protection of the cyber ecosystem.

The rules that Facebook interprets as burdensome are some of the few civil liberties firewalls remaining between government surveillance and private companies. Under CISPA, these “burdensome rules” even include the company’s already weak terms of service. Concerns about the civil liberties implications ultimately led to the rejection of the bill.

It was clear after the bill’s defeat, however, that it would be back. CISPA was reintroduced in the House on February 13th, by the same sponsors as last year. Currently, there are letters of support from companies like AT&T and IBM, but opposition among civil liberties advocates remains strong.

In a press release, Rep. Rogers claims that the bill is needed because:

This is clearly not a theoretical threat – the recent spike in advanced cyber attacks against the banks and newspapers makes that crystal clear.  American businesses are under siege. We need to provide American companies the information they need to better protect their networks from these dangerous cyber threats.

The bills’ sponsors argue that CISPA contains strong civil liberties and privacy protections while streamlining response to the threat of “cybercrime,” but it is this very streamlining that leads to civil liberties concerns. The bill would create an unprecedented information sharing regime between private corporations and government agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security or National Security Agency, all under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.

Specifically, the bill allows “elements of the intelligence community to share cyber threat information with private-sector entities and to encourage the sharing of such intelligence.” Private entities can be “certified” and receive privacy clearance to allow them to receive such information. They can also share that information with other certified entities. One particularly concerning facet of the bill is that it:

allows companies to choose which government agency to share the information with, including the National Security Agency or other element of the Department of Defense.

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• 3/6, Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, Killing Americans on U.S. Soil: Eric Holder’s Evasive, Manipulative Letter
• 3/6, Justin Peters, Slate, Eric Holder to Senate Judiciary Committee: Aaron Swartz Case Was “A Good Use of Prosecutorial Discretion”
• 3/5, Wynton Hall, Breitbart.com, Homeland Security Drones Designed to Identify Civilians Carrying Guns
• 3/5, Adam Clark Estes, The Atlantic, Guantanamo Guards Are Now Shooting at the Prisoners
• 3/5, John Hudson, Foreign Policy, Momentum builds to declassify CIA detention program
• 3/5, Spencer Ackerman, Wired, U.N.’s Drone Inquisitor: CIA Torture Was an ‘International Conspiracy of Crime’
• 3/5, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, Attorneys: Gitmo Prisoners on 3-Week Hunger Strike
• 3/5, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, Importing the War on Terror: Glenn Greenwald & Activist Trevor Timm on Domestic Drone Surveillance
• 3/2, Ian Shapira, Washington Post, Long-ago wiretap inspires a battle with the CIA for more information

• 3/2, David Sarasohn, The Oregonian, On surveillance, what you don’t know can hurt you
• 3/2, Declan McCullagh, CNET, DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones
• 3/2, Nick Turse, Al Jazeera, Waterboarding Americans and the redefinition of torture
• 3/1, Ned Resnikoff, MSNBC, ‘Homeland security’ has received $791 billion since 9/11
• 3/1, David Taintor, TalkingPointsMemo.com, Obama Marks 10th Anniversary Of Department Of Homeland Security
• 3/1, John Reed, Foreign Policy, The opposition to CISPA swings into action
• 3/1, Dave Frymier, Wired, The Cyber Security Executive Order Is Not Enough
• 3/1, Joshua Kopstein, The Verge, Denied in the Supreme Court, warrantless wiretap opponents are losing ground fast

• 2/15, Joan Lowy, Washington Guardian, FAA to create 6 drone test sites in US
• 2/15, Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, Is Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me’ the Inspiration for a DOJ Legal Brief on Drones?
• 2/14, Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone Magazine, At Least We’re Not Measles: Rationalizing Drone Attacks Hits New Low
• 2/14, John Reed, Foreign Policy, House intel committee working with White House to avoid another CISPA veto
• 2/14, Tarun Wadhwa, Forbes, Homeland Security Approves Their Right To Search and Seize Your Electronics Without Suspicion
• 2/14, Amanda Terkel & Ryan Grim, Huffington Post, Nancy Pelosi Ambivalent On Drones Program
• 2/14, David Kravets, Wired, California County Inching Toward Drone Deployment?
• 2/13, Katha Pollitt, The Nation, ‘America Doesn’t Torture’—It Kills