Saturday, April 28, 2007
Walmart Builds Its Own Spy Agency
This article tells about how Walmart is building its own intelligence service. I am not sure I can count how many ways this idea disturbs me. Walmart doesn't exactly have a clean record when it comes to its treatment of its customers, suppliers and workers. I can just imagine what they might want with spooks (activists and union recruiters beware).
Now hiring former cops as security officials is not that unusual. But this goes a fair bit beyond normal store security.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recruiting former military and government intelligence officers for a branch of its global security office aimed at identifying threats to the world's largest retailer, including from "suspect individuals and groups".
Wal-Mart's interest in intelligence operatives comes at a time when the retailer is defending itself against allegations by a fired security employee that it ran surveillance operations against targets including critics, dissident shareholders, employees and suppliers. Wal-Mart has denied any wrongdoing.
Wal-Mart posted ads in March on its own web site and sites for security professionals, including the bulletin of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, for "global threat analysts" with a background in government or military intelligence work.
Given how much information Walmart has about most of us. We should maybe be worried.But Steven Aftergood, who runs the government secrecy project for the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists, said Wal-Mart's efforts appear to go beyond what most companies are doing, raising questions about corporate intelligence work outside of the oversight process in place for government spying.
"It's a troubling new departure in corporate security. We're not just talking about security, we're talking about intelligence operations," Aftergood said.
Edit: Walmart isn't the only company making a spy agency. Blackwater is as well.
Harrison told a meeting of security professionals last year that Wal-Mart was learning to defend itself by using the vast information it routinely collects about its employees, shoppers and suppliers.
Wal-Mart's union-backed critics said culling customer data for intelligence was disturbing."The idea that Wal-Mart is creating its own personal CIA should make every American -- Wal-Mart customer or not -- nervous about whether Wal-Mart is invading their privacy or could do so in the future," said Chris Kofinis, spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com.
