A secretive division of the Pentagon is now tasked with protecting its high-ranking officials not only from assassination and other bodily harm, but also from negative portrayals on social media, according to a procurement document obtained by The Intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While military records officially state the U.S. Army Protective Services Battalion protects its charges from \u201cassassination, kidnapping, injury or embarrassment,\u201d this now includes monitoring social media for \u201cdirect, indirect, and veiled\u201d threats, as well as identifying \u201cnegative sentiment\u201d about individuals like Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, according to the document, which is dated September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The document describes the program as \u201ca reliable social media threat mitigation service\u201d with an \u201cOpen-Source Web based tool-kit with advanced capabilities to collect publicly available information (PAI).\u201d Beyond the data from Twitter\u2019s \u201cfirehose,\u201d 4Chan, Reddit, YouTube, VK, Discord, Telegram, and the like, \u201cPAI\u201d also includes a wealth of commercially acquired information from surveillance firms and private contractors like Dataminr, other data brokers, and unscrupulous smartphone apps and advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All this would be apparently combined with geo-fencing capabilities and actual cellular location data, allowing for near-exact pinpointing of the location of the supposedly \u201csignal-rich discussions from elicit threat-actor communities\u201d \u2013 keeping in mind that the \u201cthreats\u201d discussed in the procurement document potentially include unkind tweets about current and retired generals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entirety of this information hoard \u2013 including CCTV feeds, radio stations, personal records, even individuals\u2019 webcams \u2013 would be accessible through a \u201cuniversal search selector,\u201d according to the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The document specified the need for a two-way stream, requiring the contractor to maintain \u201cthe anonymity and security needed to conduct publicly accessible information research through misattribution\u201d by \u201cusing various egress points globally to mask their identity.\u201d The contract was given to SEWP Solutions LLC, described as the only company capable of \u201ctunnel[ing] into specific countries\/cities like Moscow, Russia or Beijing, China and come out on a host nation internet domain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The procurement document specifies that it does not want the Pentagon advertising its interest in violating the online and, potentially, physical privacy of those it deems threats to the reputation of generals retired and current. It is stamped \u201cControlled Unclassified Information\u201d\/FEDCON, meaning it is not meant to be seen by those outside the federal government and contractor system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The revelation that still more intrusive powers are being sought by the national security state has outraged privacy advocates. \u201cExpressing \u2018positive or negative sentiment towards a senior high-risk individual\u2019 cannot be deemed sufficient grounds for government agencies to conduct surveillance operations, even going as far as \u2018pinpointing the exact locations\u2019 of individuals,\u201d Ilia Siatitsa of Privacy International told The Intercept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ability to express opinions, criticize, make assumptions, or form value judgments \u2013 especially regarding public officials \u2013 is a quintessential part of democratic society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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