So let me get this straight.

The DHS doesn't have any special access to the traffic going to these
servers (facebook, twitter, hulu, etc) do they? (such that they can
know who's reading or posting material by IP address) ?

I mean, can the DHS do anything other than pull publically-accessible
content from those sites?

Is this really a good use of tax dollars?

Does Hulu have a web-chat or on-line forums?

The story doesn't mention usenet.

See also:

http://cryptome.org/2012/01/0002.pdf
DHS Privacy Compliance Review (doesn't contain the list)

http://cryptome.org/2012/01/0001.pdf
This is the list.

===========================================

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1199633.html

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely
monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu,
WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and
Drudge Report, according to a government document.

A "privacy compliance review" issued by DHS last November says that
since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been
operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular
monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites
and message boards."

The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to
"collect information used in providing situational awareness and
establishing a common operating picture."

The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is
designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S.
Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage
government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath
in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter
Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A DHS official familiar with the monitoring program said that it was
intended purely to enable command center officials to keep in touch with
various Internet-era media so that they were aware of major, developing
events to which the Department or its agencies might have to respond.

The document outlining the monitoring program says that all the websites
which the command center will be monitoring were "publicly available
and... all use of data published via social media sites was solely to
provide more accurate situational awareness, a more complete common
operating pictures, and more timely information for decision makers..."
The DHS official said that under the program's rules, the department
would not keep permanent copies of the internet traffic it monitors.
However, the document outlining the program does say that the operations
center "will retain information for no more than five years."

The monitoring scheme also features a five-page list, attached to the
privacy review document, of websites the Department's command center
expected to be monitoring.

CONTROVERSIAL SITES

These include social networking sites Facebook and Myspace - though
there is a parenthetical notice that Myspace only affords a "limited
search" capability - and more than a dozen sites that monitor, aggregate
and enable searches of Twitter messages and exchanges.

Among blogs and aggregators on the list are ABC News' investigative blog
"The Blotter;" blogs that cover bird flu; several blogs related to news
and activity along U.S. borders (DHS runs border and immigration
agencies); blogs that cover drug trafficking and cybercrime; and
websites that follow wildfires in Los Angeles and hurricanes.

News and gossip sites on the monitoring list include popular
destinations such as the Drudge Report, Huffington Post and "NY Times
Lede Blog", as well as more focused techie fare such as the Wired blogs
"Threat Level" and "Danger Room." Numerous blogs related to terrorism
and security are also on the list.

Some of the sites on the list are potentially controversial. WikiLeaks
is listed for monitoring, even though officials in some other government
agencies were warned against using their official computers to access
WikiLeaks material because much of it is still legally classified under
U.S. government rules.

Another blog on the list, Cryptome, also periodically posts leaked
documents and was one of the first websites to post information related
to the Homeland Security monitoring program.

Also on the list are JihadWatch and Informed Comment, blogs that cover
issues related to Islam through sharp political prisms, which have
sometimes led critics to accuse the sites of political bias.

Also on the list are various video and photo-sharing sites, including
Hulu, Youtube and Flickr.

While a DHS official involved in the monitoring program confirmed the
authenticity of the list, officials authorized to speak for the
Department did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.