More sharing leads to more security

To share information or not, that is the question.

The Markle Foundation is just one group involved in the subject, and earlier this year they released a report arguing that more sharing will lead to better national security.

Jeff Smith is an attorney with the law firm Arnold & Palmer and he's a member of the Markle Foundation's Task Force on National Security and the Information Age.

He previously served as the General Counsel of the CIA.

He worked with others at Markle to develop the report, Nation At Risk: Policy Makers Need Better Information to Protect the Country.

Smith talked about it, and the topic of information sharing, on Thursday's Daily Debrief.

He said the spotlight fell on sharing after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when it became clear that agencies needed to better connect the dots.

"The idea was to create a process of information sharing and the government ultimately set up a post held by Ambassador [Robert] McNamara called the Program Manager for Information Sharing, and the idea was to institute some policies and procedures to improve information sharing, but at the same time, address issues of privacy."

Thus, many analysts feel there is a constant, on-going effort to balance individual privacy with the a need-to-know mentality.

Smith takes issue with the word 'balance', however.

"We've never thought of it as particularly a balance because that suggests that it's either or -- or that you have to make hard choices. We believe that improved technology can do both. That is to say, it can improve the sharing of information within and among the government agencies that need it, and at the same time provide enhanced protections for security and privacy of Americans."

Some of these newer options include authorized user technologies and the collection of anonymous information (where data is not associated with a particular name, for example).

These technologies only work, though, if vigorous oversight is enforced. This is one of the main reasons why the Markle Foundation wrote its report.

"One of the things we feel most strongly about is -- Congress created the Privacy Oversight Board which was designed to . . . keep an eye on the government's collection and sharing of information to protect the privacy of American citizens. Unfortunately, that privacy board has never been constituted. Some people were named in the last Administration but they ultimately got blocked in the Senate. We think a very high priority should be to identify people for that board -- have the president nominate them and have the Senate confirm them promptly."

More broadly, Smith said the President should appoint someone in the executive branch to oversee the three issues of information sharing, privacy and national security. His group feels this should be a Senate-confirmed position, too.

Ultimately, however, any information sharing system should be governed by trust between the people and its government. This, Smith added, should be addressed, both when it comes to agencies working with each other -- and agencies working with the general public.

"There is not often a trust between agencies. I served in the CIA, for example. I was the General Counsel. We worked awfully hard to do a better job of working with the FBI, but -- you get an [Aldrich] Ames case or a [Robert] Hanssen case and immediately people will say, 'Why should I share information with somebody when they have these kind of security problems?'"

Trust, therefore, needs to be constantly nurtured and focused on. This is where Smith said groups such as the Privacy Board come into play.

"Increased attention from the Congress. Increased attention from the White House. Increased attention from the media -- from academia. This is not exciting stuff. It's kind of basic blocking and tackling, but it's really critical not just to national security."

Smith cited examples of health care organizations needing to work together in times of crisis, as well as transportation agencies staying on the same page to prevent accidents.

In addition, Smith added that information becomes more powerful when it is shared properly.

"It needs to be shared within the government and up and down to state and local officials and, more broadly, with the American people. The House recently passed a bill . . . calling for additional declassification of threat information so that the American public would know as much as they can know without endangering the sources and methods, what are the threats that are coming from terrorists. . . . In many ways, an informed citizenry could be very helpful in the fight against terrorism."

On this front, Smith said education is key. Teaching officials and agency heads how to share properly might seem time consuming, but it would create a safe framework.

This is why enhanced training is also emphasized in the report.

"We have found that, at the top, everybody understands the importance of this, but it needs to be inculcated down through the chain of command in the government. That involves training. It involves various kinds of incentives. We think it should be part, for example, of the evaluation of government employees."

It is also important for agencies to report when they don't share information, Smith said, or when they acknowledge they have information that they can't share.

"Let's say someone in the Department of Agriculture who has the necessary clearance is asking about Asian flu or Ebola or Anthrax, and he or she . . . [is] told there is some information at the CIA to which they are not entitled -- but it's there -- then that person has a way of appealing up through his or her chain to say, 'I'm looking for some information. I'm told the CIA has it but they won't give it to me. Let's find a way to figure out how I can see what I need to see.'"

Smith said technologies are being developed to facilitate such protective sharing, but he added that it does take a long time to deploy new options along with a changed mindset.

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On the Web:

Markle Foundation -- Nation At Risk: Policy Makers Need Better Information to Protect the Country (pdf)

Markle Foundation -- Testimony of Jeffrey H. Smith, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment of the House Committee on Homeland Security, July 30, 2009 (pdf)

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