DHS-DOD Cyber-Alliance = Privacy Threat?

A week after Defense and Homeland Security officials pledged to coordinate responses to attacks on computer networks, privacy advocates warned that allowing the military to conduct domestic law enforcement could subject Americans to unwarranted surveillance.

The memorandum of agreement, reported on NextGov by Aliya Sternstein, put into ink a commitment to synchronize cybersecurity response efforts at both agencies. A new DHS director for cybersecurity coordination would enshrine this pact. Based in the National Security Agency, but not under its command, the director would also act as a liaison to Defense's newly-convened Cyber Command.

The memo stresses that privacy and legal counsel will support the director to ensure the agreement offers "integral protection for privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties," but privacy advocates aren't convinced.

"We are very concerned that the line between the military and domestic law enforcement continues to blur," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington legislative office. "The military is trained to fight foreign enemies, not to enforce domestic laws."

"Proposals with civil liberties implications as serious as these should be subject to robust public debate before any policy is implemented," added Murphy.