Privacy Fears Threaten Satellite Program

• What's New: Congress is threatening to shut down Homeland Security's domestic satellite surveillance system.
• The Reason: Lawmakers say the department hasn't created legal safeguards to ensure the program won't be used for domestic spying.
• What's Next: Homeland Security said it will send additional documents to Congress this week to answer questions.

Go to Wall Street Journal original
WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security's domestic satellite surveillance system is running into fresh opposition from Congress, which is threatening to shut down the program if the department doesn't more thoroughly address concerns over protecting privacy.

The satellite program, known as the National Applications Office, is designed to provide federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy satellite imagery to assist with emergency response and other domestic security needs.

Lawmakers said the Department of Homeland Security hasn't created legal safeguards to ensure that the office won't be used for domestic spying. They also are asking for assurance that it is legal to use military assets such as spy satellites for domestic security.

Recent classified briefings on the program "did not allay any of our concerns," said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Monday, written with two colleagues, he wrote: "Should you proceed with the [program] without addressing our concerns, we will take appropriate steps to discontinue it."

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