'Commercially available data' creates 'dual-edged sword for US government agencies': declassified report

13 June 2023

On Friday, June 9, the United States' Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) publicly released a newly declassified report on information that is commercially available online and the security concerns it raises. The report was finished in January 2022, but only recently was it declassified and released to the public.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) was quick to comment on the report, saying, in an official statement, "Congress needs to pass legislation to put guardrails around government purchases, to rein in private companies that collect and sell this data, and keep Americans' personal information out of the hands of our adversaries."

In an article published by CNN on June 13, journalist Sean Lyngaas — known for his cybersecurity reporting — describes "commercially available data" as a "dual-edged sword for U.S. government agencies" that "opens up new avenues for spying on foreign adversaries" but is also "exposing vulnerabilities to U.S. personnel."

"The (ODNI) report is one of the more detailed public records of how the U.S. intelligence community approaches 'commercially available information' — things such as geolocation data and phone records, which can be bought from third parties," Lyngaas notes. "The amount of such data available to anyone with a credit card has exploded in the past decade as smartwatches and wireless earpieces have become a staple of life."

The reporter adds, "The ubiquity of such data on large groups of people is an 'increasingly significant part of the information environment' in which U.S. spy agencies must function, the ODNI report says."

Find ODNI's report at this link and Sean Lyngaas' article for CNN here.

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