Hidden agency

The group of technologies included herein is by no means exhaustive. They are somewhat representative of the directions that research and development has taken recently. Some of the research has been done or sponsored by government agencies. Some has been commercially led. Some of the work will result, or has resulted, in systems committed to production. Our emphasis is not on products but on technologies. Our anticipation is that work will build on this and products will become available to enhance the search for hidden explosives. 

A sealed record requires that not only the information content but also the very existence of such information itself be completely hidden. On the other hand, a locked record requires that the information content be completely hidden, although the existence of such information can be known to a small group of selected people in the authorized organizational entities (e.g., the intelligence agencies of CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security). 

In April 1953 the CI A s Deputy Director of Plans, Richard Helms, proposed that the agency establish a program for the covert use of biological and chemical materials 15 for the manipulation of behaviour. The project was, Helms believed, ultra sensitive , and he therefore argued that it be exempt from all the normal accounting channels, its very existence hidden from all but the most senior officers of the CIA. The Director of the CIA, Allen Dulles,... 

Both regulatory agencies have hidden concerns or agendas that were not articulated in the Federal Register, but which surfaced during negotiations on product submissions. Likewise, industry and the public failed to voice all their concerns. 

Reviews of facility activities by outside organizations or agencies provide an opportunity to reveal blind spots to facility management and personnel that could otherwise remained hidden. Independent oversight can identify conditions, processes, and practices that fall short of industry best practices and those that could lead to degraded facility performance if uncorrected. 

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