More than six months ago, I posted about the U.S. Army’s Field Manual FM 3-01.80 (27.5MB PDF!) and the minor inaccuracies contained therein. Attempts to get any kind of response from either the Air Defense Artillery School or Training and Doctrinal Command were unsuccessful, and I - and many others - were left wondering just how long the “useless” FM was going to remain. On that subject, I have an interesting bit of news to share, and an opportunity for you - yes, you - to help Uncle Sam make “Visual Aircraft Identification” everything it could have been.
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Secrecy News has gotten hold of a Comcast handbook for law enforcement that, among other things, details the telecommunications giant’s data-retention policies. Makes for some very interesting reading, if you’re a Comcast customer. One area that caught my attention was the retention of all phone numbers dialed - local and long distance - for two years, when using their regular or VOIP services. I’m pretty sure this is required by law here in the U.S., but it makes me wonder if those hypersensitive to data-mining and privacy issues might be better served with VOIP providers based overseas, like BlueFace. Food for thought, anyway, if these sorts of things concern you.

Today, as a little bit of a change of pace, I’ve got an interesting publication from the Department of Justice that seems to have previously escaped much notice in the usual internet circles. Entitled “Law Enforcement Intelligence” (and who wouldn’t be attracted to such a title?), it’s an all-in-one handbook, textbook, and reference volume to most things intelligence- and information-related for law enforcement in this country.
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