U.S. to broaden spy satellite access

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. border patrol and law enforcement agencies will soon have access to once-classified spy satellite imagery, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, the newspaper said.

Access to the surveillance will be controlled by the National Applications Office, a new Homeland Security branch that will be functioning in October, officials said.

Previously, only non-intelligence agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey could request images on a case-by-case scenario, each of which had to be approved by the president.

Charles Allen, the Department of Homeland Security's chief intelligence officer, told the Journal that he was aware of civil liberties concerns but also said there were misconceptions about the technology.

"We have to get this right because we don't want civil-rights and civil-liberties advocates to have concerns that this is being misused in ways which were not intended," Allen told the Journal. "Contrary to what some people believe you cannot see if somebody needs a haircut from space."