(ProsperNews.net) – Newly released information shows that the surveillance state once again tried to tap into American citizens’ privacy and scan for dissidents. In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly entered into a contract with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to collaborate on a project called “Night Fury.” Night Fury described a goal of assigning social media users a social credit “risk” score to evaluate them on terroristic activity, opioid distribution, and “disinformation.”
The Privacy Threshold Analysis document by the DHS states that the focus will be on foreign entities but noted that successful methods of evaluating these threats should “scale to other DHS domains,” including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The DHS planned to refer to automation for the evaluation of social media users, but critics have noted that there is a lack of definitions for terms like “terrorism.” Those on the right are particularly skeptical because they continue to be called terrorists by Democrats and the Biden administration, leading them to believe that they will be targeted.
Though the project was scrapped in 2019, it highlights the DHS’ interest in surveilling the public in the guise of national security. CBP is currently using the AI-powered Babel X to screen the social media of migrants crossing the border. The tool may reportedly tie the travelers’ social security number to their social media.
The news comes a year after the Biden administration sought to create the “Disinformation Governance Board” under the DHS. The focus of the government surveillance board was Russia and irregular migration but the person leading it was discovered to have hyper-partisan political views, leading many to believe that the board would have only been weaponized against conservatives.
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