The Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC) is an American

Public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

created at the request of corporations "for an FBI-led organization that would bridge the information divide between America’s private and public sectors" in December 2005. The program facilitates information sharing and cooperation between the FBI and over 509 of the largest American companies, which altogether account for over one half of the

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and employ more than 20 million people. In December 2012, released documents showed that the DSAC and counter-terrorism programs conducted surveillance of nonviolent

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...

protesters in 2011.

History

The

Overseas Security Advisory Council The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and p ...

(OSAC) was established by the

Diplomatic Security Service The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS or DS) is a security and law enforcement agency that acts as the operational division of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is a branch of the United States Department of State. Its primary mission is ...

of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in 1985 as a mechanism for sharing security information between the U.S. private sector and the U.S. government.U.S. DSAC Webpage, "About DSAC" The

FBI Criminal Investigative Division The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) is a division within the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The CID is the primary component within the FBI responsible for overseeing FBI investigatio ...

(CID) began to advise OSAC in 1996. In November 2005, by corporate request, the FBI hosted a steering committee composed of Chief Security Officers for major American companies including

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

and

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

; this committee founded the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC) the following month. All three of these founding corporations cross-affiliate with the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, BRT ...

. The mission statement of DSAC states that the program is "a strategic partnership between the FBI and the U.S. private sector," that it promotes the "effective exchange of information" between them, and that it allows the FBI to more easily detect and prevent criminal activity involving interstate commerce. DSAC is also supervised by the

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 or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

.States News Service, 2011 In July 2006, DSAC created a leadership board of 29 business leaders from major companies in the United States. These include companies in the airline, banking, entertainment, food, and other industries. Two-thirds of the members of the leadership board cross-affiliate with the Business Roundtable. In 2010, over 200 companies participated in DSAC, constituting over one third of the US GDP and almost 10% of its labor force.

Merck Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including: * the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668 ** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...

Vice President Grant Ashley, American Undersecretary Dawn Scalici, and assistant FBI director Ronald C. Ruecker are all chairpersons of and executives for DSAC. Merck also cross-affiliates with the Business Roundtable. Other American companies participating in DSAC include

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

, MasterCard,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

.U.S. DSAC Webpage, "DSAC Leadership Board." Of these, Bank of America, Barclays, American Express, MasterCard, Boeing, General Electric and Walmart all cross-affiliate with the Business Roundtable. As of May 2021, DSAC is led by Senior Executives

FBI Director The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...

Christopher Wray and

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 ...

Alejandro Mayorkas Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas (born November 24, 1959) is a Cuban-American government official and attorney who has been serving as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security since February 2, 2021. During the Obama administration, h ...

. The three co-chairs of the Executive Working Group (EWG), representing the FBI, DHS, and private sector, respectively, are assistant director of the Office of Private Sector Michael Sullivan, director of Private Sector Engagement Tamara Hutchinson, and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer Ronald L. Iden.

Domestic surveillance

Following successful freedom of information requests by the

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) is a nonprofit Progressivism in the United States, progressive legal organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded by Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, the organization focuses on cases regard ...

, the FBI released redacted documents in December 2012 showing that the FBI had spied on

(OWS) organizers and passed OWS information to financial firms via DSAC prior to the first OWS protests in

Zuccotti Park Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza Park) is a publicly accessible park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located in a privately owned public space (POPS) controlled by Brookfield Properties and Goldman Sachs. ...

.Grant, 2012 FBI officials met with New York Stock Exchange representatives on August 19, 2011, notifying them of planned peaceful protests.Browdie, 2012 FBI officials later met with representatives of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve located in Richmond, Virginia. It covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia ...

and

Zions Bank Zions Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Zions Bancorporation originated as Keystone Insurance and Investment Co., a Utah Corporation, in April 1955. In April 1960, Keystone, together with several in ...

about planned protests. The FBI used informants to infiltrate and monitor protests; information from informants and military intelligence units was passed to DSAC, which then gave updates to financial companies.Grey, 2012 Surveillance of protestors was also carried out by the

Joint Terrorism Task Force In the United States, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are locally-based multi-agency partnerships between various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes, led by the ...

.Wilkins, 2012 DSAC also coordinated with security firms hired by banks to target OWS leaders.International Business Times, 2012 Previously, in December 2011, DSAC had written a report on law enforcement agencies' plans for a 12 December protest at US ports, which involved investigation of links between OWS and port trade unions by the

Naval Criminal Investigative Service The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate criminal activities involving the Navy and Marine Corps, though its ...

.Partnership for Civil Justice, pp.30-33 The Partnership for Civil Justice, a non-profit, said that espionage facilitated by DSAC treated "protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity," and said that DSAC was "functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and corporate America."

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book '' The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that surveillance of OWS by the FBI was conducted with the knowledge of the Obama Administration.Wolf, 2012 A DSAC brochure states that the benefits of membership in the DSAC include: * Centralized access to security information not only from the FBI, but from all federal government entities, including the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, the IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Secret Service * Ongoing access to a network of diverse security experts at the highest government and corporate levels * Continuing education for CSOs through the semi-annual Domestic Security Executive Academy at the FBI Academy, Quantico, VA * Continuing education for intelligence analysts through quarterly regional Intelligence Analyst Symposiums * Additional opportunities through participation in DSAC’s committees

Notes

External links

Official Webpage for the Domestic Security Alliance Council

References

* * * * * * * * * {{cite news, last=Wolf, first=Naomi, title=Revealed: how the FBI coordinated the crackdown on Occupy, newspaper=The Guardian, url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy, date=29 December 2012, accessdate=31 December 2012 Agencies of the United States government United States intelligence agencies Public–private partnership projects in the United States 2005 establishments in the United States Government agencies established in 2005

History

Domestic surveillance

See also

Notes

External links

References