One of the major surveillance battles the ACLU fought in the years after 9/11 was over a Bush administration proposal known as the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II, or CAPPS II. Under this scheme as initially proposed, the government would have tapped into commercial data sources to perform background...

Born soldiers may say they have "combat in our genes" — but a new report suggests the Pentagon may want to give the phrase whole new meaning by turning DNA into the next military battleground.

The report, prepared by a defense science advisory panel known as JASON...

Obama administration officials spoke today about the "National Strategies for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace." The NSTIC ("N-Stick") proposal, which was released in draft form last June, proposes the creation of an online identity "ecosystem," which the report defines as "an online environment where individuals, organizations, services, and devices can...

Here we go again. Earlier this month the Pentagon announced a new effort to build a system aimed at allowing it to scan billions of communications in order to detect "anomalies" in people's behavior that will predict who is about to snap and turn into a homicidal maniac —...

Once again, police "intelligence" functions created to supposedly help prevent terrorism are being used to violate the rights of peaceful political groups — this time in Pennsylvania.

Documents obtained by the investigative journalism group ProPublica revealed that the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security (OHS) has been gathering...

Andy Greenberg at Forbes.com reported yesterday that company representatives told him that backscatter X-rays mounted in vans that can be driven around the public streets have been sold to, and deployed by, domestic U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Backscatter X-rays are one of the technologies that are used in...

So the U.S. security establishment is salivating at the prospect of a new cybersecurity "Cold War." In an over-the-top op-ed in Tuesday's Washington Post, Mike McConnell issues a declaration that we are "fighting a cyber war today" and compares it to the nuclear showdown with the Soviets. McConnell...