Security, Defense Experts Call for Better Information Sharing

Newswise — To effectively conduct homeland security and national defense operations, U.S. governmental agencies must keep up with advances in technology, improve information sharing and be willing to learn from each other's mistakes, a national panel of security and defense experts said Thursday at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Some of the top legal players in U. S. defense, security, aviation, safety and space programs gathered at UM for "The Law, Homeland Security and Geospatial Technologies: A Conference."

While highlighting how U.S. security and defense programs have evolved since the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, conference presenters echoed a common theme, stressing the need for better information sharing across departments.

Prominent attorneys from the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, and Transportation Security Administration presented on topics ranging from the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in defense efforts to the emergence of the Department of Homeland Security.

"When you think about 9/11, it was not just about killing people "¦ it was about hitting us where we were most vulnerable," said Hugo Teufel, associate general counsel in the Department of Homeland Security, during his presentation "The Law and Homeland Security." Teufel said that while homeland security has combined between 22 and 35 agencies to protect the United States, criticism that the department ignores civil rights and liberties in that quest are unfounded.

"We have officers whose job it is to make sure that the department does not intrude on the privacy rights of Americans or others who come to our country," Teufel said.

The issue of privacy was again raised when Department of Defense representative Hilay Hageman, associate deputy general counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, discussed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for homeland defense. These remote controlled aircrafts have been very successful in gathering information in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hageman said.

"UAVs are great to use in situations where human beings would be at extreme risks," Hageman said. "We're able to see much more detail than if we had a man on the ground." While UAVs can record vast amounts of data, "[the Department of Defense is] not in the business of looking into people's home. We're looking at large areas, conducting reconnaissance missions and the like."

The U.S. Constitution applies even in defense, Teufel added. "The government will not conduct law enforcement activity outside of the boundaries of the Constitution. It is an enduring document and we can't make it mean whatever we want whenever we want."

The struggle to balance protecting individual rights while protecting the United States has long existed, said presenter Woody Davis, liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration.

In his presentation "Using Space-Based Data in Homeland Security Operations: Legal Issues," Davis made the distinction between military-focused national security and civilian-focused homeland security. "In reality, both concepts are complementary parts of the same whole " defense of the U.S. homeland against all aggressive acts," Davis said.

Davis said the United States has long used space for national security purposes, and now space plays an important role in homeland security.

"Homeland security embraces the notion that there are no borders in the defense of the United Sates," Davis said.

Security officials can learn many lessons from the Federal Aviation Authority, said Christopher Hart, assistant administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of System Safety, Department of Transportation.

"We've got to look at preventing future errors by designing safety into the system," Hart said. "There is a lot that in the same that we can learn from each other and benefit from each other."

The conference participants presented legal research papers on their various topics. They took questions from a live audience and responded to questions posed by viewers following a live Web cast of the conference.

"The speakers together touched a wide range of well-integrated topics," said Joanne Gabrynowicz, conference organizer and director of the National Center for Remote Sensing and Space Law at UM. "These are people who are doing this work every day; for them to all get together in one place and present such a complete picture is a terrific opportunity for the audience and for our students."