PORTLAND -- In response to reports of significant domestic surveillance abuses across the country under the auspices of state-level "fusion centers", the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation announced its investigation of Maine's fusion center, the Maine Information Analysis Center (MIAC) today. The MCLU seeks information to ascertain whether Maine's fusion center is complying with state and federal privacy laws and whether further civil liberties safeguards are needed.
"Fusion centers, like so many Bush-era surveillance operations, were created on a state by state basis via executive order with excessive secrecy," said Shenna Bellows, MCLU Executive Director. "We have a valuable opportunity following the recent elections to fix our intelligence and law enforcement systems to bring them back in line with the Constitution."
Maine's fusion center, MIAC, was established by Governor John Baldacci via executive order on December 8, 2006. MIAC's website describes it as a clearinghouse for information and intelligence related to homeland security concerns shared among Federal, state, county, local and tribal law enforcement agencies as well as agencies and entities from the private sector. The website goes on to solicit the public to report "suspicious activity." MIAC's definition of suspicious activity includes mundane activities such as the following:
- Surveillance: someone taking unusual interest to a building or area
- Photos, note taking and drawing of diagrams
- The use of binoculars or night vision devices
- Someone asking unusual and detailed questions about a building, area or event
- Unusual pattern of coming and going from a residence
"MIAC's description of suspicious activity would have us report bird watchers, builders, and photographers to the government," said Bellows. "To truly have freedom of speech and association, people in a free society should be assured that their ordinary activities are not being monitored by government authorities."
The MCLU is seeking information from the Maine Emergency Management Agency and the Maine State Police through Maine's Freedom of Access Act about MIAC's policies, procedures and practices. The MCLU seeks any and all data and analysis of suspicious activity reports. The MCLU is particularly interested in evaluating MIAC's compliance with Maine and federal privacy laws. The MCLU intends to evaluate the efficacy of the MIAC Advisory Board in providing adequate civil liberties oversight.
"It is important as we look forward to a new legislature, a new Congress, and a new Administration, that we begin the arduous process of investigating and repairing structural abuses of government power," said Zachary Heiden, MCLU Legal Director. "We look forward to a constructive process of restoring civil liberties safeguards to Maine's security operations."
Maine's efforts are part of a nationwide ACLU campaign to monitor the activities of fusion centers across the country. In November 2007, the ACLU released a report, "What's the Matter With Fusion Centers," in which the group warned about the potential dangers of these new institutions, including ambiguous lines of authority, excessive secrecy, troubling private-sector and military roles, and an apparent bent toward collection of information about peaceful activities and data mining. Recent developments have only confirmed the urgency of these warnings.
"Since we wrote our first report, there have been numerous incidents around the country that have confirmed the substance and the seriousness of our warnings," said ACLU National Security Policy Counsel and report co-author Michael German. "We warned that the structure of fusion centers was ripe for abuse, and that recruiting every corner beat cop to file reports on innocent everyday behavior was a bad idea. Already, we have seen criminal abuses in California, and many reports of law enforcement personnel wasting their time harassing perfectly innocent individuals."
Copies of the MCLU filing and the ACLU report are available upon request or on our websites at www.mclu.org and www.aclu.org/privacy.
