James Bamford
The article looks at the potential for information gathered by the U.S. government through various kinds of surveillance, typically for national security purposes, to be made publicly available for non-military uses such as rescues in natural disasters. It profiles the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), including its shift in focus toward human geography. Topics include the use of drones and satellites to collect visual intelligence, the NGA's creation of a public website with information relevant to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, health-related uses of the U.S. National Security Agency's data-mining technologies. Comments are presented from former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official Arthur Lundahl.