DHS is giving police departments social media surveillance software
WA: A nearly $70,000 DHS social media monitoring grant obtained by Benton County Emergency Management helped pay for the social media intelligence software — the first of its kind in the Tri-Cities. Variations of the software are used nationwide.
Excerpts from Homeland Security Today:
"With the proliferation of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media websites, law enforcement agencies and first responders would do well to acclimate themselves to these tools. Why? Because such websites can provide crucial information during civil unrest, natural disasters and other disturbances. Gaining real-time information can make a tremendous impact on response times and strategies, and rendering the necessary assistance. It’s for these very reasons that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) developed a specialized social media monitoring and data-mining capability."
"As is the case with traditional investigations, police do not rely on one source of social media information to make an informed decision on a course of action. Officials listen for, and monitor, multiple posts to confirm events."
The software gathers real-time and old posts from around the area and organizes the data for officials to review. They can track where a post came from and use keyword searches to follow conversations on several sites.
Police claim reviewing social media sites is routinely part of the investigative process and their hope is this will be another tool to track criminal behavior.
Police also claim they have no intentions of using it to track everyday citizens WINK, WINK!
Police depts. are funded by DHS, does anyone really believe they're not spying on everyday citizens?
It's all lies...
The homeland security apparatus: Fusion center data mining of social media
"According to records obtained by DBA/CMD, in order to facilitate Dowhan's work PPD personnel regularly fed the "Terrorism Liaison All-Hazards Analyst" logs containing the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license/state identification numbers, and physical descriptions of citizens arrested, issued citations-- or even given warnings by police-- in connection with Occupy Phoenix. The vast majority of these citizens who had been arrested, or had other interactions with PPD, were cited/warned for alleged violations of the city's "urban camping" ordinance."
The UASI, Homeland Security, Emergency Management News website reveals how they're spying on social media:
"Incorporating social media monitoring into the ICS structure--not through the PIO where it often lands now, but either in the Planning Section or maybe in an "Intelligence Officer" role to provide direct and continuing actionable intelligence to Command."
How do fusion centers spend their U.S. DHS grant money? Records illustrate that, in Arizona for example, U.S. DHS grant streams are often expended on training, improved communications systems and sundry items associated with incidents that may generate mass causalities. Interestingly, records show that U.S. DHS grant funding has also been spent on programs dedicated to the monitoring and mining of information posted to social media.
DHS funded New York Police Dept. has formed a new 'Strategic Response Group' or anti-protestor group, click here & here to read more.
Police across the country are spying on protestors, click here, here & here to read more.
Click here to watch a video on DHS testimony on social networking and media monitoring.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2015/01/31/3388480_tri-city-police-get-software-to.html?rh=1
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12122/homeland-security-apparatus-fusion-centers-data-mining-and-private-sector-partner