According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, the majority of Americans (56%) think it’s okay for the NSA to track phone records in the name of investigating terrorism; 41% say it’s unacceptable.
Most young people are also more likely than older Americans to “prioritize personal privacy over terrorism investigations.”
What do you Tumblr folks think? Where do you stand when it comes to the tradeoff between privacy and intelligence gathering?
In America, there are more houses built in the (countryside) than in the cities. It is difficult to choose a better place (than) in the valleys of Montana.
The threats of terrorism and spillover violence from the Mexican drug war are largely overblown, according to a new report.
The report [PDF] found that those threats have led to an increased enforcement presence and a confusing patchwork of federal agencies responsible for border security. The buildup has pushed migrants into more dangerous travel routes, but has done little to reduce drug trafficking, according to the report.
And despite fears that terrorists could use the southern border as a gateway to the U.S., no member of any group on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list has attempted to enter the country via Mexico, the report said. Read more.
Image: A U.S. Army National Guard soldier watches the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz. via Jim Greenhill/Flickr
A San Francisco politician wants tougher oversight of local police and the role they play in terrorism investigations following complaints from residents that they were unnecessarily targeted for questioning and surveillance by Joint Terrorism Task Forces.
Dozens of new task forces led by…
Ever wonder how investigative journalists work? In our first live Behind the Story event with the San Francisco Film Society, Center for Investigative Reporting journalists G.W. Schulz and Andrew Becker, who reported our Under Suspicion package on suspicious activity reporting, discuss their reporting methodology and how they obtained documents for the investigation.
Congress has called for further investigation of the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis following a Center for Investigative Reporting examination that found the outfit has done little to add to or improve the nation’s intelligence data.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month directed the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, to examine the department as part of a first-ever Homeland Security authorization bill.
The committee directed the GAO to look at the department’s reliance on contractors, duplication and gaps in intelligence analysis, and the accuracy and usefulness of analysis reports, all issues raised in CIR’s probe.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said his decision to push for further examination, which aims to “peel back the layers” to find problem areas and identify what needs to be done to enhance the department’s intelligence capabilities, was “spurred” by the CIR report. Read more.
CIR reporters Andrew Becker (left) and G.W. Schulz (right) at our event last night with the San Francisco Film Society. Becker and Schulz reported earlier this year with NPR on suspicious activity and the war on terror. At our event, Behind the Story: Under Suspicion, they described the process of developing their investigation and showed some of their work. See more here.
In the wake of 9/11 , the U.S. government radically rethought how it ensures the safety of its citizens. Take a look at our timeline to see major events in the 9/11 decade.
We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft. I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot.
Listen to the continuation of an investigation by NPR News and the Center for Investigative Reporting on private counterterrorism programs, like the one at the Mall of America.
Programs aimed at keeping a lookout for potential terrorists are not about profiling, government officials stress. But an analysis of suspicious activity reports of incidents at the Mall of America near Minneapolis, by NPR News Investigations and the Center for Investigative Reporting, suggests that the Mall of America may be questioning people based partly on their appearance.
From the more than 1,000 pages of suspicious activity reports examined, the documents suggest almost two-thirds of the “suspicious” people whom the Mall reported to local police were minorities. Compare that with the U.S. population, which is more than 70 percent white. And whites account for 85 percent of the population in Minnesota. Read more of this story.
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