With all the hubbub about NSA spying, Google\u2019s PR people really want you to know how separate the company is from America\u2019s military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States government spends about $80 billion a year on information technology, making it the largest consumer of technology projects in the world.\u201d \u2013New York Times<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
With all the hubbub about NSA spying, Google\u2019s PR people really want you to know how separate the company is from America\u2019s military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Google made a\u00a0big show of\u00a0refusing<\/a>\u00a0DARPA funding\u00a0for two\u00a0robotics manufacturers it purchased, even though the companies themselves were\u00a0financed with plenty of\u00a0DoD cash. It\u2019s a nice gesture, and one that was welcomed by those who want Silicon Valley to be free of government interference.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, while a crowd-pleasing announcement is good for Google\u2019s public image, it does nothing to change the company\u2019s\u00a0long and ongoing history<\/a>\u00a0of working closely with US military and surveillance agencies.<\/p>\n
Last week, I\u00a0detailed how Google does\u00a0much more than simply provide us civvies with email and search apps. It sells its tech to\u00a0enhance the surveillance operations of the biggest and most powerful intel agencies in the world: NSA, FBI, CIA, DEA and NGA \u2013 the whole murky alphabet soup.<\/p>\n
In some cases \u2013 like the company\u2019s dealings with the\u00a0NSA and its sister agency<\/a>, the NGA \u2013\u00a0Google deals\u00a0with government agencies directly. But in recent years, Google has increasingly taken the role of subcontractor: selling its wares to military and intelligence agencies by partnering with established military contractors. It\u2019s a very deliberate strategy on Google\u2019s part, allowing it to\u00a0more effectively sink its hooks into the\u00a0nepotistic, old boy government networks of America\u2019s military-intelligence-industrial complex.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, Google Federal (as the company\u2019s D.C.\u00a0operation is called) has partnered up with old school establishment military contractors like Lockheed Martin, as well as smaller boutique outfits \u2013\u00a0including one closely connected to the CIA and former mercenary firm, Blackwater.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0approach began around\u00a02006.<\/p>\n
Around that time, Google Federal began beefing up its\u00a0lobbying muscle<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0hiring\u00a0sales reps with military\/intelligence\/contractor work experience \u2013 including at least\u00a0one person<\/a>, enterprise manager Jim Young, who used to work for the CIA. The company then began making the rounds, seeking out partnerships with with established military contractors. The goal was to use their deep connections to the military-industrial complex to hard sell Google technology.<\/p>\n
And it worked.<\/p>\n
The Washington Post\u00a0summed up<\/a>\u00a0the success of Google\u2019s new approach in 2010:<\/p>\n
When Director Michael Bradshaw came to Google Federal about four years ago, he visited all the big government contractors in the federal market, going door to door to promote partnerships.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people didn\u2019t even know Google Federal existed,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cI think we were more of a novelty in their mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast forward four years, and many traditional government contractors are clamoring to work with the company. Both sides sees advantages in the collaborations. Despite Google\u2019s widespread commercial success, the partnerships help the Internet giant establish a beachhead in another lucrative market.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Who are some of these \u201ctraditional government contractors?\u201d The Washington Post article\u00a0mentioned Lockheed Martin. But there are plenty of others.<\/p>\n
Looking at the non-classified government contracting database, we can see Google partnering with\u00a0Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tag-teaming the DoD for a $1-million contract to install a \u201cwebs Google Earth plug-in.\u201d\u00a0Northrop Grumman<\/a>\u00a0is one the top three of biggest arms manufacturers in the world. It designed the B-2 Stealth bomber, builds and outfits nuclear-powered submarines\u00a0and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. It is also intimately involved with all sorts of NSA surveillance operations, and was\u00a0part of a team<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0designed<\/a>\u00a0Trailblazer \u2013 a multibillion-dollar mass Internet, e-mail and\u00a0telephone surveillance system\u00a0that was such a massive failure that it\u00a0eventually had to\u00a0scrapped<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In 2008, Google paired up with\u00a0Eyak<\/a>, a boutique military contractor based in Alaska, for a $2.735m DoD contract to install Google Earth. Like all good military contractors, Eyak\u2019s execs were recently\u00a0involved<\/a>\u00a0in $28 million\u00a0bribery\u00a0and\u00a0kickback<\/a>\u00a0scheme.<\/p>\n
You can check out\u00a0Google\u2019s\u00a0other subcontracting gigs<\/a>\u00a0over at the Federal Procurement Data System \u2013 which range from just a few thousand dollars to multiple millions.<\/p>\n
But Google partners for classified military\/intelligence contracts are, unsurprisingly, not so easy to pin down.<\/p>\n
From Google\u2019s previously\u00a0classified<\/a>\u00a02003 work order for the\u00a0NSA, we know that in some cases the company is forbidden to disclose information or even admit the existence of contracts\u00a0without authorization from the US government.<\/p>\n
Stil, Google\u2019s \u201cEnterprise Government\u201d\u00a0page<\/a>\u00a0yields a few hints. On it, Google lists some of the companies\u00a0it partners with to deliver products and services to the government.<\/p>\n
Among them is California-based mega military contractor\/quasi-government intel agency\u00a0SAIC.<\/a>\u00a0According to Tim Shorrock\u2019s book,\u00a0Spies For Hire<\/a>, half of\u00a0SAIC\u00a040,000+ employees hold security\u00a0clearances \u2013 many of them having come straight from the NSA:<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, so many NSA officials have gone to work at SAIC that intelligence insiders call the company \u2018NSA West.\u2019 SAIC also does a significant amount of work for the\u00a0Central Intelligence Agency, where it is among the top five contractors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another, lesser-known contractor stands out as well: Blackbird Technologies, a secretive hi-tech military contractor with\u00a0strong ties to the CIA and the infamous mercenary firm Blackwater.<\/div>\nWired\u2019s Noah Shachtman\u00a0\u2013 one of the\u00a0few journalists<\/a>\u00a0to write about the company \u2013 describes Blackbird as \u201cManhunt Inc<\/a>\u201d because the company\u2019s flagship product is a sophisticated locator bug that\u2019s used for the covert \u201ctagging, tracking and locating\u201d of suspected terrorists\/persons of interest out in the field. These\u00a0bugs don\u2019t just track someone\u2019s location, but surveil their cellular communication, their WiFi traffic and can apparently be used to extract intel wirelessly from devices.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s\u00a0Wired<\/a>\u00a0in 2011:<\/p>\n
Virginia-based Blackbird Technologies, has become a\u00a0leading supplier of equipment for the covert \u201ctagging, tracking and locating\u201d of suspected enemies.\u00a0Every month, U.S. Special Operations Command\u00a0spends millions of dollars<\/a>\u00a0on Blackbird gear. The U.S. Navy has a contract with Blackbird for\u00a0$450 million<\/a>\u00a0worth of these so-called \u201cTTL\u201d devices.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cTens of thousands\u201d of Blackbird\u2019s devices have been sent to the field, according to a former employee. And TTL is just one part of the Herndon, Virginia firm\u2019s multifaceted relationship with the special operations, intelligence and traditional military services.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlackbird has hit the trifecta: They\u2019ve got people to sell, people to perform the job, and people to keep it all secret,\u201d says one well-placed Defense Department contractor. \u201cEverybody keeps their distance.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Blackbird offers\u00a0other\u00a0spy gadgets<\/a>, too \u2013 and not just for\u00a0governments, but high net worth individuals as well. One of them is an encrypted locator\/distress\u00a0beacon for the 0.001%. It\u2019s called the\u00a0Panther\u00e2\u201e\u00a2:<\/p>\n
Panther permits isolated, missing, or threatened VIPs to send an encrypted distress signal and be tracked anywhere in the world. These handheld, battery-powered, personnel locating and emergency signaling units provide both cellular- and satellite-based communications paths and are designed for ease of use.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Pretty badass, right?<\/p>\n
Much of Blackbird\u2019s tech involves geo-tracking, which makes the company a natural partner for\u00a0Google\u2019s military-grade Google Earth software \u2013 developed as it was in close collaboration with the US military and intelligence community.<\/p>\n
But Blackbird is very likely involved in more than just passive observation. Several\u00a0former Blackbird employees told Wired\u2019s Noah Shachtman\u00a0that Blackbird routinely went \u201coutside the wire.\u201d Meaning the company put armed operatives into battle zones on special operations, including search and rescue missions to extract missing\/captured soldiers.<\/p>\n
A military-surveillance tech contractor putting armed operatives in the field? Hmm\u2026 that would would seem to put the company in a totally different class of contractor \u2013\u00a0somewhere closer to the likes of mercenary security firm Blackwater\/Xe\/Academi.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Blackbird\u00a0appears to be\u00a0closely connected\u00a0to\u00a0Blackwater\u00a0and its founder\u00a0Eric Prince. In 2010, Jeremy Scahill reported in \u201cthe Nation\u201d that Blackbird was essentially\u00a0an outgrowth of Blackwater:\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
I have heard from sources that over the past two years, Prince has shifted some of Blackwater\u2019s clandestine work to companies he does not own but which are run by former Blackwater executives or allies. Among these are Blackbird Technologies, which now employs former Blackwater executive J. Cofer Black\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now serving as Blackbird\u2019s vice president, Cofer Black is a high-level spook with a\u00a0long and distinguished career<\/a>.<\/p>\n