Our picksACLU for Disbanding DHS | Russia’s Space Weapons | Scammers & COVID-19, and more

Published 12 August 2020

·  Justice Department Completes Review of Errors in FISA Applications

·  Facial Recognition Has Been Used Unlawfully and Violated Human Rights, Court of Appeal Rules in Landmark Case (

·  The ACLU Has Officially Called to Abolish the Department of Homeland Security

·  The Dissent Channel: Meet the Investigative Reporter Uncovering the Dark Side of Homeland Security

·  NBAF: DHS and USDA Are Working to Transfer Ownership and Prepare for Operations, but Critical Steps Remain

·  Facebook Removed Nearly 40% More Terrorist Content in Second Quarter

·  A Russian Satellite Weapon Shows the Danger of Hazy Rules in Space

·  How Scammers Use Faked News Articles to Promote Coronavirus “Cures” that Only Defraud Victims

Justice Department Completes Review of Errors in FISA Applications (Jeremy Gordon, Lawfare)
The Justice Department reported that most of the errors identified by the Office of the Inspector General were minor and none invalidated surveillance authorizations.

Facial Recognition Has Been Used Unlawfully and Violated Human Rights, Court of Appeal Rules in Landmark Case (Lizzie Dearden, Independent)
Calls for ‘sinister’ technology to be banned, but police vow to continue using it

The ACLU Has Officially Called to Abolish the Department of Homeland Security (Ray Levy-Uyeda, Mic)
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Sunday its demand to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a USA Today op-ed, ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero argued that the department created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is a dangerous and unchecked expansion of federal power.

The Dissent Channel: Meet the Investigative Reporter Uncovering the Dark Side of Homeland Security (Matthew Petti, National Interest)
The National Interest spoke to investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein about how the “forever wars” come home.

NBAF: DHS and USDA Are Working to Transfer Ownership and Prepare for Operations, but Critical Steps Remain (GAO)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have taken steps to plan for and implement the successful transfer of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) from DHS to USDA for ownership and operation. (See figure.) The facility is to house state-of-the-art laboratories for research on foreign animal diseases—diseases not known to be present in the United States—that could infect U.S livestock and, in some cases, people. The departments’ steps are consistent with selected key practices for implementation of government reforms. In addition, USDA has taken steps to prepare for NBAF’s operation by identifying and addressing staffing needs; these steps are consistent with other selected key practices GAO examined for strategically managing the federal workforce during a government reorganization. However, critical steps remain to implement the transfer of ownershp of NBAF to USDA and prepare for the facility’s operation, and some efforts have been delayed.

Facebook Removed Nearly 40% More Terrorist Content in Second Quarter (Rachael Levy, Wall Street Journal)
Social-media giant says increase was driven by improvements in detection efforts

A Russian Satellite Weapon Shows the Danger of Hazy Rules in Space (Economist)
Experts want to clarify how the laws of war on Earth apply beyond it.

How Scammers Use Faked News Articles to Promote Coronavirus “Cures” that Only Defraud Victims (Jeff Stone, Cyberscope)
Scammers are relying on fabricated news articles about the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to trick readers into signing up for bunk coronavirus cures.
A network of content farm websites — the kind of sites that typically publish false hyperpartisan articles — are masquerading as legitimate news sites as part of an attempt to scam Americans, according to research published Wednesday by RiskIQ. By posting what appeared to be inflammatory news articles with headlines like “One Mom Has Found a Solution to Fight Back Coronavirus,” fraudsters aim to bring a would-be victim to their website, then inundate them with ads for expensive, and fake virus cures.