ICReach

ICReach is as obvious as the writing on the wall for those that will read it.  It does not take much intelligence to read it.  Not any more to put 2 and 2 together.  Of course there is vast capability to search the massive data base of intelligence information.  That is what all that data was gathered for!  The only more obvious thing is that capability and application certainly go far beyond what is described at this revealing link.  How the NSA Built its Own Secret Google.

The magnitude of the revelation equals "Water is wet".  Surprise, surprise.  The capability is there and easily scales to any magnitude when the data is defined by established standards.

What is the really important aspect of collecting all this private secret information?

Duh, duh, wow this is a tough question.  Could you put it in a sentence to give it a frame of reference????

Here is a shortcut to the answer:  Application.  Otherwise known as use.  Sometimes called doing something with it.

Doing what? 

Whatever is the mission of the user, however the user wants to apply it maybe even independent of the mission.  That however is not called unauthorized use.  It is called "Mission Creep".  Maybe called creative application to do things that were never done before.

The problem with application of secret sources and methods is that application reveals their existence.  Its the classic problem of letting our own soldiers die in war or incur needless loss of civilian life because to reveal what capabilities exist would cause even more death, destruction and abrogate future tactical or strategic application to win whatever conflict or mission accomplishment goals are the the intent of secret means and methods.  The protection of secret capabilities prevents the development of counter measures until the development of the counter measures is not possible in any significant way.

That is a dilemma on the part of those that control secret capabilities.  The dilemma is how to have your cake and eat it too.  Especially domestically when the mission of the the entire secret structure is foreign oriented but all the domestic data is available to an equal extent but law says it can't be used.  What law?  The one that is eroding.  Maybe being refined.  Maybe simple given up to gain Homeland Security.

How to apply the ICReach capability domestically to get bad guys.  That is a problem of a rock and a hard place.  Probably assigned to the PR department and I would guess the best solution is to get the population to demand it.  It is an authoritarian control issue, how to get people to demand or at least accept authoritarian control. 

The first requirement is to get acceptance and support from those that run the secret programs.  Get them to agree that the Constitution is not a suicide pact.  That is something they have already signed on to otherwise there would be more Snowdens.  They all believe that what they have to do what they have to do for the good of the country and it is better that the country not know what they have to do.

Proving to those that would authorize secret use that the domestic war on (whoever we are warring on domestically) is won with private data on citizens is a the start.  The the most despicable target is chosen.  Child trafficers for example.  Killers.  Kidnappers.  Whoever is the worst bad guy de jour.  Use all the secret resources to identify who they are and where they are in real time and all of the data driven information that says they are in fact the bad guy.  That is what we are doing with drone strikes.  The domestic version of a drone strike is a SWAT Team. 

When the analysts go to their top level seniors and say that they know with a probable statistical accuracy of where most Child Trafficers are in real time in the USA and have sufficient secret information conclusive evidence to convict them (if it could be used but it can't....fruit of the forbidden tree) then there is compelling reason to get the bad guys or figure out a way to get them with or without the law.

Does anyone think that the leadership of secrets based government entities do not want to get all the known bad guys in this country and believe it is their duty to do so by the means available to them?

So far, there is the legal way to do it.  Or the twisted way of lip service to the law to do it.  If they do more of it the sources and methods used to do it become apparent.  Apparent that they must be recording all data on everyone all the time or they would not know what they know about the small target segment of "bad guys".    That they can find the needle in the haystack and there is nowhere for it to hide.  They have to have the organized searchable haystack with billions of recorded data points and billions arriving in real time.

Publicly there are claimed reasons to disguise the application of secret methods and sources.  They are "Parallel Construction" excuses that are reasonable.  Or reasonable at least to those that do not want to look to close.  "Routine traffic stop" is one where drugs are found.  "Confidential Informant" is another.  The confidential informant happens to be a cell phone spoofer and the entire intelligence system that tracks the bad guy.

We could put all the worst criminals behind bars if the gloves came off and we could pursue them domestically like we do the terrorists.  To do so would reveal that we are collecting info on everyone all the time to find the bad needle in real time, anytime.  Like a traffic camera on steroids to get the speeders, it looks at all of us and we have accepted that.

I am not sure where we are going with the application of intelligence sources and methods domestically but I think the general course and speed as well as the means and ways to get there are self evident.