The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has revealed more evidence of Pentagon spying on nonprofits that oppose the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, new Homeland Security Department programs that will monitor public opinion, emails and blogs raise further concerns about the free speech rights of nonprofits and the civil liberties of Americans. The ACLU issued a press release on Oct. 12 detailing a military anti-terrorism database that keeps records on non-violent protest groups. According to that release, the Pentagon has conducted surveillance of groups opposed to the Iraq war, such as student groups and Quakers, who are committed to nonviolence. As reported in previous Watcher articles on Feb. 7, 2006 and June 27, 2006 , the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request after news reports revealed that the Pentagon was secretly conducting surveillance of anti-war organizations, protest activities, and those opposed to military recruitment. The Pentagon shared the collected information with other government agencies through the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database, which was intended to track individuals with links to terrorism. This equates peaceful anti-war activity with terrorism, raising serious civil liberties concerns. Elaborating on the ACLU revelations, The New York Times reported last week that "intelligence reports and tips about antiwar protests, including mundane details like the schedule for weekly planning meetings, were widely shared among analysts from the military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security." The ACLU release highlighted several examples of Pentagon surveillance in Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida and Texas, noting "One document, which is labeled 'potential terrorist activity,' lists events such as a 'Stop the War NOW!' rally in Akron, Ohio on March 19, 2005. The source noted that the rally 'will have a March and Reading of Names of War Dead' and that marchers would pass a military recruitment station and the local FBI office along the way." Still more frightening an example of surveillance of Americans who do not pose any harm is the Homeland Security's Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE) program, one of the 12 data mining programs being test by the department. Congress Daily (subscription required) reports that concerns have been raised that the ADVISE program could be an infringement on privacy rights. ADVISE collects online public information, including emails and blogs, and then cross-references it against all other records on individuals. The information is then shared with federal, state, and local government agencies. The concept of mass surveillance of public opinion is taking a further step, according to a recent New York Times article, which reveals that Homeland Security money has been given to numerous universities in the form of $2.4 million in grants to develop software that would allow the government to monitor negative opinions of the United States in publications abroad. This comprehensive monitoring of global news would be used to identify potential threats. It could also be used to monitor negative opinions of administration policies by domestic organizations, opening the door to the kinds of surveillance discovered by the ACLU on an even broader scale. In addition to the likelihood of serious errors in software interpretations of public opinions, the program could likely have a chilling effect on speech worldwide.