Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: April 15, 2016

Surveillance of Foreigners Outside the United States Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Via FAS – Surveillance of Foreigners Outside the United States Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Edward C. Liu, Legislative Attorney. April 13, 2016.

“After the attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct a Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) to “intercept international communications into and out of the United States” by “persons linked to al Qaeda or related terrorist organizations.” After the TSP activities were concluded in 2007, Congress enacted the Protect America Act (PAA, P.L. 110, which established a mechanism for the acquisition, via a joint certification by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Attorney General (AG), but without an individualized court order, of foreign intelligence information concerning a person reasonably believed to be outside the United States. This temporary authority ultimately expired after approximately six months, on February 16, 2008. Several months later, Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance. Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008. P.L. 110 261, which created separate procedures for targeting non U.S. persons and U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States under a new Title VII of FISA. Title VII of FISA was reauthorized in late 2012 P.L. 112 238; this authority now sunsets on December 31, 2017…”

Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: Improved Risk Analysis and Stakeholder Consultations Could Enhance Future Reviews

Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: Improved Risk Analysis and Stakeholder Consultations Could Enhance Future Reviews, GAO-16-371: Published: Apr 15, 2016. Publicly Released: Apr 15, 2016. “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assessed risk for the second Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) and considered threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences; however, DHS did not document how its various analyses… Continue Reading

Aerial Surveys of Elevated Hydrocarbon Emissions from Oil and Gas Production Sites

Aerial Surveys of Elevated Hydrocarbon Emissions from Oil and Gas Production Sites Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00705 Publication Date (Web): April 05, 2016. Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society Abstract – “Oil and gas (O&G) well pads with high hydrocarbon emission rates may disproportionally contribute to total methane and volatile organic compound (VOC)… Continue Reading

USDA Local Food Directories: National Farmers Market Directory

Updated April 15, 2016 – The Farmers Market Directory lists markets that feature two or more farm vendors selling agricultural products directly to customers at a common, recurrent physical location. Maintained by the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Directory is designed to provide customers with convenient access to information about farmers market listings to include: market… Continue Reading

Paper – OPM Demonstrated that Antiquated Security Practices Harm National Security

Handing Over the Keys to the Castle – OPM Demonstrated that Antiquated Security Practices Harm National Security. Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology. July 2015. “In this digital age, information is secured, coveted, and exfiltrated by nation states, hacktivists, and ambitious actors because, now more than ever, knowledge is power. Modern needs dictate that only authorized… Continue Reading

EWG’s 2016 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce

“Nearly three-fourths of the 6,953 produce samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2014 contained pesticide residues – a surprising finding in the face of soaring consumer demand for food without synthetic chemicals. This year’s update of EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ reports that USDA tests found a total 146 different… Continue Reading

Counting Casualties in Syria and Iraq: Process and Challenges

Via FAS – CRS INSIGHT – Counting Casualties in Syria and Iraq: Process and Challenges. April 12, 2016 (IN10474) “Casualty estimates for the conflicts in Iraq and Syria are inconsistent and unreliable because of a range of methodological challenges in conducting and reporting counts. Estimates of the number of people who have died during Syria’s… Continue Reading

Paper – Gone in Six Characters: Short URLs Considered Harmful for Cloud Services

Gone in Six Characters: Short URLs Considered Harmful for Cloud Services  – Martin Georgiev, Vitaly Shmatikov (Submitted on 10 Apr 2016) “Modern cloud services are designed to encourage and support collaboration. To help users share links to online documents, maps, etc., several services, including cloud storage providers such as Microsoft OneDrive and mapping services such… Continue Reading