and then
National Security Archive Update, September 17, 2007
Documents Describe Organization and Operations of Controversial Agency and Database
For more information contact:
Jeffrey Richelson – 202/994-7000
www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB230/index.htm
Washington D.C., September 17, 2007 – Today the National Security Archive publishes a collection of documents concerning the organization and operations of the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity and the TALON/CORNERSTONE database it has maintained. As the Defense Department announced on August 21, today that database will be terminated while work on new procedures for reporting of threats to the Defense Department and its facilities continues. In the interim, threat reports will be transmitted to the FBI.
The declassified documents published today include the key Department of Defense directive on the collection of information about Americans, as well as documents on the organization and missions of CIFA, an evaluation of charges of mismanagement by CIFA executives, and examples of data collected about protest activities as part of the Threat And Local Observation Notice (TALON) system.
Central to the collection are documents that show the internal and public response by the Defense Department to questions raised about the propriety of the data base – specifically, its collection and retention of data on political protests. Also, included is a DoD Inspector General report on the operation of the TALON system, identifying a number of problems in operation of the system.
Visit the Web site of the National Security Archive for more information about today’s posting.
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THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals.