A pair of recent reports suggest a growing lack of confidence and trust in the Department of Homeland Security — from both the general population and workers inside the organization itself.

According to the 2007 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government report from the Ponemon Institute, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) subsidiary were among those government organizations least trusted by more than 7,000 survey respondents to safeguard citizen's privacy and personal information.

Other governmental organizations in the Least-Five-Trusted were: the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of Attorney General.

A separate report, the 2007 Report of the Homeland Security Culture Task Force, was prompted by a 2006 Office of Personnel Management survey, which found that the DHS ranked nearly dead last in employee satisfaction and trust of managers.

So, here we it: the most non-trusted government organizations, staffed by disgruntled employees. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

When the DHS was formed shortly after the attacks of September, 11, 2001, I remember reeling at the department's name. The overbearing nationalism inherent in the phrase Homeland Security was, for me, too reminiscent of World War II-era fascism, with a tinge of Soviet-era gulag implications.

As more and more domestic and international functions were placed under DHS control, it became clear that my fears of an overbearing, monolithic, and self-aggrandizing federal agency now had a true basis in reality.

And now we live in a time when citizens are spied upon without warrants; when communications are intercepted unlawfully; when government reaches into our most private of affairs. But they tell us they can be trusted. Yeah. Right.

Like the DHS itself, the American Identity -- so long admired for its bases in freedom, liberty, and the rule of law -- is now in crisis. Like the DHS, we are losing confidence in our own government and leaders. Like the DHS, America has lost the trust of many around the world.

Homeland Security. It's not just a department. It's a symptom.

The reports:

• 2007 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government (PDF via epic.org)
• Report of the Homeland Security Culture Task Force (PDF via dhs.gov)

Further reading:

• Study on privacy protections finds citizens distrust security agencies (govexec.com)
• Ponemon Institute Announces 2007 Privacy Trust Rankings of U.S. Government Agencies (prweb.com)
• Americans Continue To Not Trust Department Of Homeland Security (spacewar.com)
• Survey results set off culture alarm at Homeland Security Department (fcw.com)
• DHS promises to make its workers happier (fcw.com)
• Don’t trust the government with your privacy? (homelandstupidity.us)

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or homeland... gzel (Unregistered) 2007-03-15 18:25:11 Hey, given the nature of these reports, maybe they should be the Department of Homeland Insecurity instead! ~gz~ Quote

CITIZEN OF THE FORMER USA patrick (Unregistered) 2007-04-12 09:58:28 Every Thing They Say Turns Out To Be A Lie.Everything. Neocons Believe In Lieing And Doing Evil Things For There Dictorial Cause. To Rule The World. In The Wizard Of Oz. Dorthy Looked Down At Little Todo And Said. Todo I Don't Think Were In Texas Anymore. Alert Your Family And Friend We Are In The Final Stages Of A Complete And Deadly Takeover. It Will Soon Be Every Man For Himself,If We Don't Stop It Now. I Mean Right Now. Resist With Every Thing You Can Do. Millions Of Us Citizens Could And Probably Will Die, If This Nazi Regime Is Not Stopped Quote

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