The National Applications Office (NAO) was a

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...

program that provided local, state, and federal officials extensive access to spy-satellite imagery. It had access to military satellites to observe the

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Details

The NAO was described as a clearinghouse for requests by law enforcement, border security, and other domestic homeland security agencies to access feeds from spy satellites that had collected data for mainly scientific and military uses in the past. The name of the agency had been described as "deceptive." Access to spy satellite surveillance tools allowed

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to ...

and law enforcement officials to see real-time, high-quality images. Which allowed them to identify gang safe houses, border smuggler staging areas, or even hideouts of would-be terrorists. The spy surveillance satellites were considered by military experts to be far more powerful than those that were currently available to civilian officials. They could take color photos, see through cloud cover and forest canopies, and used different parts of the light spectrum to locate traces left by chemical weapons. However, the full capabilities of these systems are among the most carefully held governmental secrets. In October 2, 2007, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

had filed an injunction against the NAO, that ordered it not to begin operations, due to concerns about civil liberty issues. Some in Congress wanted to shut down the agency due to concerns that the satellites could be used to create a "Big Brother" in the sky directed at anyone's house, place of worship or school. The NAO's charter was signed in February 2008. On November 9, 2008, the

Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...

released a recommendation that the NAO's role be more strictly defined. This might be seen as evidence that the aforementioned civil liberty issues have not been sufficiently addressed. In 2009

Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

terminated the office.

References

External links

National Applications Office: Fact Sheet

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

, August 15, 2007
U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets
''Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support of Civil Agencies and Longstanding Controversy'',

National Security Archive The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy, the N ...

The George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first ...

, April 11, 2008
Satellite Surveillance: Domestic Issues
Congressional Research Service, March 21, 2008
National Applications Office Charter

Government Accountability Office Recommendations
United States Department of Homeland Security {{US-gov-stub