Dive Summary:
- A report issued by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) network of Fusion Centers, which generate intelligence reports on potential national security threats for utility companies and DHS, are largely useless and violated the civil liberties of many Americans.
- Approximately one-third of the intelligence reports were never published, others were not published until up to one year after being generated and many more contained information completely unrelated to terrorism.
- DHS could not say how much money was spent on the project, estimates were anywhere between $289 million to $1.4 billion, and acknowledged purchases of flat-screen TVs and sport utility vehicles.
From the article:
"America's system of so-called 'Fusion Centers' established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for companies like utilities and manufacturers to report incidents that may have national-security implications is operated in a way that's 'shoddy, rarely timely,' and 'sometimes endangering citizens' civil liberties and Privacy Act protections.'
Those were the exact words in the report issued last night by the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that looked into how the roughly 70 state and local Fusion Centers have operated since 2003 when these centers were set up in the hopes of information-sharing between the private sector and government on suspected terrorism or cyberattacks. ..."