DDNI for Collection Press Conference
The U.S. Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection gives a press conference on the new Utah data collection facility: video and transcript.
Comments
uk visa • October 29, 2009 5:35 PM
It’s not a great read but it is worth reading, if for no other reason for seeing how little Mr Gaffney told them… a clip below (Bruce, I hope it’s OK to copy it here).
I love:
‘I can’t get into some of the specific details of the kind of work that will go on…’
Nobody asked him:
Tell us some of the details you can tell us.
And ‘You have a fantastic set of elected representatives and senators…’
Oh please, what baloney.
QUESTION: Could you talk a little bit about what kind of data will be screened at the center? How does it work?
MR. GAFFNEY: I can’t get into some of the specific details of the kind of work that will go on at the center because it is a critical aspect of the way we are looking at doing cybersecurity going
forward. I can say that it is – the reason why we are doing the center is because of the deep level of technical expertise that’s needed to understand the nature of the threats. And then how we use that understanding of that threat throughout the Intelligence Community, Homeland Security, the Defense Department, in order to better secure the nation’s infrastructure.
QUESTION: And if we can’t understand what you’re doing, how do we know that you’re not infringing on personal freedoms?
MR. GAFFNEY: Okay, well, one of the key ways, as the governor talked about – the checks and balances. You have a fantastic set of elected representatives and senators who provide oversight
through the committees that we talked about.
The level of trust that is established between the Intelligence Community, the entire cybersecurity
community, in working with Congress and working with the Senate, that is the key linkage because
we are sharing with them and working with them on the details about what we need to do to secure
the nation’s infrastructure.
They’re laser-focused on securing this nation. And their partnership with us, and the trust that you place in them, is absolutely critical. So that when your elected representatives stand up and say, we have provided oversight, and we know that this is being done consistent with our laws and with our liberties, that’s what makes government work. So I cannot thank these men enough.
Not From Utah • October 29, 2009 7:52 PM
MAJOR GENERAL BRIAN TARBET (Adjutant General, Utah National Guard): …. and it also allows us to identify the innocents and to target and eliminate the threats.
This is a great day for us, a great day to be in the garden, and a great day to be Utahan. Thanks very
much. (Applause.)
How will they “identify the innocent”??
RF • October 29, 2009 10:37 PM
Happy that someone asked the questions — go Utah libertarians, I guess — but of course there weren’t really answers. All of the checks and balances Gaffney talked about existed throughout the warrantless wiretapping program and didn’t do anything — even though Congress and the public clearly cared once it was leaked! (And even though people of all political stripes agree the NSA broke the law.)
It’s practically a contradiction to call that a well-functioning system of oversight.
And as Simon said, you don’t need datacenters to defend against “cyberattackers.” You need them to sift through wiretaps, intercepted Internet traffic, and the like.
BF Skinner • October 30, 2009 10:25 AM
“So that when your elected representatives stand up and say, we have provided oversight, and we know that this is being done consistent with our laws and with our liberties, that’s what makes government work. So I cannot thank these men enough. ”
Okay so the ranking member of the intelligence committee got a MAJOR federal facility into his constituacy. Make no mistake 5000 jobs up front and hundreds of operational jobs is as good as a military base.
The SAME guy who’s got to be the legal watchdog. Conflict of interest?
@Not From Utah “How will they “identify the innocent”??”
Oh Easy peasy. The innocent will be those people who’s information they aren’t intercepting or collecting.
Annie Nomous • October 30, 2009 12:59 PM
@Not From Utah:
See Revelation 13:16
Dom De Vitto • October 30, 2009 3:35 PM
@Not From Utah
How will they “identify the innocent”??
Easy – Register of deaths, births and marriages.
All babies are innocent – at birth at least.
Everyone else is guilty, because the law ensures it, through it’s breadth and complexity.
Dom
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Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Simon • October 29, 2009 4:21 PM
Video broken, but I read the transcript.
Thanks for linking to this.
I guess I’m a little unclear what the mission of this new facility is, because we hear a lot about monitoring / data collection, yet the press conference language focuses on attacks – the type of attacks that disable.