Intelligence/ Satellite intelligence collection

To the average American, the term intelligence agency refers to a group of secret military types, locked in a windowless room in Virginia, furtively collecting data on bad guys, good guys, citizens, everybody. That data is delivered up the chain in manila envelops marked “Top Secret.” There’s still some truth to that stereotype (apparently, they get to have windows now) but Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, or NGA, is hoping to secure an unconventional legacy as a spy chief.

The agency receives around $5 billion annually, according to documents published by the Washington Post, and is primarily charged with collecting pictures from space. It’s a job that lends itself to parody. Think of Jon Voight’s character in Enemy of the State, who oversees an intelligence agency heavily reliant on satellite imagery to snoop on innocent people.

Can You Have a Transparent Spy Agency?