SurveillanceDHS forced to release list terms it monitors on social media
Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Privacy Information center (EPIC), DHS was forced to release its 2011 Analyst’s Desktop Binder; the binder, among other things, contains a list of words DHS uses as triggers of suspicious communication when the department’s analysts monitor social media
Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Privacy Information center (EPIC), DHS was forced to release its 2011 Analyst’s Desktop Binder. The binder, among other things, contains a list of words DHS uses as triggers of suspicious communication when the department’s analysts monitor social media.
The department insists it only looks for evidence of genuine threats to the United States and not for signs of general dissent Forbes quotes DHS to say that it uses these terms as “signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S.”
The Daily Mail reports that EPIC wrote a letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, describing the department’s choice of words as “broad, vague and ambiguous.”
The list of words and terms is long, and is divided into eight sub-categories. Here are the terms of two of the eight categories (we will publish the terms in the other categories over the next three days):
Domestic Security
Assassination
Attack
Domestic security
Drill
Exercise
Cops
Law enforcement
Authorities
Disaster assistance
Disaster management
DNDO (Domestic NuclearDetection Office)
National preparedness
Mitigation
Prevention
Response
Recovery
Dirty bomb
Domestic nuclear detection
Emergency management
Emergency response
First responder
Homeland security
Maritime domain awareness(MDA)
National preparedness initiative
Militia
Shooting
Shots fired
Evacuation
Deaths
Hostage
Explosion (explosive)
Police
Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT)
Organized crime
Gangs
National security
State of emergency
Security
Breach
Threat
Standoff
SWAT
Screening
Lockdown
Bomb (squad or threat)
Crash
Looting
Riot
Emergency
Landing
Pipe bomb
Incident
Facility
HAZMAT & Nuclear
Hazmat
Nuclear
Chemical spill
Suspicious package/device
Toxic
National laboratory
Nuclear facility
Nuclear threat
Cloud
Plume
Radiation
Radioactive
Leak
Biological infection (orevent)
Chemical
Chemical burn
Biological
Epidemic
Hazardous
Hazardous material incident
Industrial spill
Infection
Powder (white)
Gas
Spillover
Anthrax
Blister agent
Chemical agent
Exposure
Burn
Nerve agent
RicinSarin
North Korea
