[pasbesoin]

You should also be aware that U.S. governments routinely acquire data from third-parties to circumvent constraints in place that prevent them from doing so, directly.

They also sell their own data, when not constrained against doing so. The many state budget crises have apparently exacerbated motivations to do so.

All that said, I can't view this DHS initiative as a positive development, WRT domestic monitoring.

Actually, I can see the point of passive monitoring. And I can't help but believe it's already done. The difference here may be the DHS, specifically, and the public nature -- announcing the initiative. Therefore perhaps also who will have access to the resulting system or systems.

Maybe I'm biased by my news consumption habits, but I worry about politicizing and agendas, when the DHS is involved.