Physical, privacy limits of domestic spy satellites questioned.

THE NEWLY CREATED NATIONAL Applications Office has a rather mundane, almost Orwellian name, especially since the "application" being referred to is the employment of U.S. military and spy agency satellites in the domestic arena.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the creation of the new office during Congress' August recess. One of its duties will be to serve as a clearinghouse for requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies that want to task remote sensing satellites to gather information on potential terrorists or criminals. Members of the House Homeland Security Committee found out about the office from the pages of the Wall Street Journal instead of department officials, which prompted a hearing on the program within days of their return.

DHS Chief Intelligence Officer Charles Allen attempted to placate lawmakers who were both irked that they weren't briefed on the program and fearful that the executive branch would step on the Fourth Amendment's guarantees of privacy.

Part of the problem DHS faces is that the general public doesn't really know what so-called spy satellites can or cannot do. Hollywood scriptwriters feel no compunction about giving the spacecraft nearly omniscient capabilities. Jack Bauer on the television show 24--with a few keystrokes--can call up satellites that provide up-close, real-time streaming video.

That is fanciful writing. What they actually can do is classified...