According to the Associated Press, a plan to use U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and law-enforcement missions is moving forward after being delayed for months because of privacy and civil liberties concerns. The plan is in the final stage of completion, according to a department official who requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about it. While some internal agencies have had access to spy satellite imagery for purposes such as assisting after a natural disaster, this would be the first time law-enforcement would be able to obtain a warrant and request access to satellite
imagery.

A plan to use U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and
law-enforcement missions is moving forward after being delayed for
months because of privacy and civil liberties concerns.

The
charter and legal framework for an office within the Homeland Security
Department that would use overhead and mapping imagery from existing
satellites is in the final stage of completion, according to a
department official who requested anonymity because the official was
not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The future of this
program is likely to come up Wednesday when Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff goes to Capitol Hill to talk about his department’s
spending plan.

Last fall, senior Democrats on the House Homeland
Security Committee asked the department to put the program on hold
until there was a clear legal framework of how the program would
operate. This request came during an ongoing debate over the rules
governing eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails of suspected
terrorists inside the United States.

The new plan explicitly
states that existing laws which prevent the government from spying on
citizens would remain in effect, the official said. Under no
circumstances, for instance, would the program be used to intercept
verbal and written conversations.

The department currently is
waiting for federal executive agencies to sign off on the program —
called the National Applications Office — and will share the details
with lawmakers soon.

Domestic agencies such as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and Interior Department have had access to
this satellite imagery for years for scientific research, to assist in
response to natural disasters like hurricanes and fires, and to map out
vulnerabilities during a major public event like the Super Bowl. Since
1974 the requests have been made through the federal interagency group,
the Civil Applications Committee.

These types of uses will
continue when the Homeland Security Department oversees the program and
becomes the clearinghouse for these requests. But the availability of
satellite images will be expanded to other agencies to support the
homeland security mission. The details of how law enforcement agencies
could use the images during investigations would be determined in the
future after legal and policy questions have been resolved, the
official said.

It is possible that in the future an agency might
request infrared imaging of what is inside a house, for instance a
methamphetamine laboratory, and this could raise constitutional issues.
In these instances, law enforcement agencies would still have to go
through the normal process of obtaining a warrant and satisfying all
the legal requirements. The National Applications Office also would
require that all the laws are observed when using new imaging
technology.

Requests for satellite images will be vetted even
more than they were when the requests went through the Civil
Applications Committee. All requests will be reviewed by an interagency
group that includes Justice Department officials to ensure civil rights
and civil liberties are not violated.

This new effort largely
follows the recommendations outlined by a 2005 independent study group
headed by Keith Hall, a former chief of the National Reconnaissance
Office and now vice president of the consulting firm Booz Allen
Hamilton.

Via the Associated Press