Homeland Security, Technology, and Our Privacy

It has been over seven years since 9/11 and after this attack our government formed a new agency called the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Although several years have passed, the DHS has just flunked an audit on preparedness for disaster.  One of the reasons is the lack of funding and being able to implement the technology needed to bring this about.  The final concern is how this new technology will be regulated.  Let’s put our finger on the pulse of this agency and see what is really going on.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), must, with the help of our government and law enforcement agencies, prepare themselves for the nation’s next disaster or attack.  When this technology is in place it needs to be governed in a way that it does not violate our rights as law-abiding citizens.

This agency and its counterparts are being heavily scrutinized these days, by several sources.  Every area has been put under the microscope to assess where this agency is when it comes to our security as a nation.  Unfortunately, what was found is very disturbing.

The office that is supposed to be in charge of preparing our nation for a disaster or terrorist attack is not prepared for these events themselves.  This is a strange irony, if they are not prepared, then how are we supposed to be?  Just how secure are we?

There are some unsettling factors that must be dealt with and one of those factors is the shape of this agencies IT infrastructure.  Here are some findings from an internal audit.  “The report, published by the DHS Office of the Inspector General, found that nearly 80 percent of the department’s IT facilities lack fully operational data recovery sites.  Of the 19 sites examined, 15 were unable to perform complete backups of their data to a second recovery site.”  (“Audit: Homeland Security Unprepared,” 2005)

We all know that information is power in this age of technology.  If an attack or disaster occurred and we could not communicate between our law enforcement, government, and emergency agencies, it would be total chaos!  One would think that our government would remedy this first and foremost, but this has not been the case.

It seems that the government is not putting forth its best effort to implement these new technologies for lack of funding.  One article stated, “We need officials to speak out, from the White House on down, about the necessity of building networks to protect us in a networked age. Then comes the hard work of changing the institutional culture, the budgeting process, and the technology.”  (Kirkpatrick, 2004)