I can't decide if that's
- the most boring document I've ever read
- a fascinating education about what happens when someone files a FOIA request

Maybe a little bit of both.

Sorta dumb.

Buying Pizza boxes from Google only allows CIA to search their own local network (data they already have).

If CIA was using Google to spy on people they wouldn't need a "contract". All thy would need would be a PC on the Internet.

I wonder if the "journalist" in question even knew what he was looking for.

macbeach: Journalist was probably just fishing. Perhaps bored or with too much spare time, too.

I suppose it is interesting that nothing else is available for examination... but, that doesn't even tell us if there is anything, or how much.

So, we know the NSA uses Google search appliances for their intranet. No more, no less.
Perhaps we could see it as a vote of confidence in Google's services: good enough for NSA, good enough for anyone?

Matt: I guess someone should invent a search engine for FOIA requests that creates nice and informative digests...

Mathias: Here's one for the UK: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

Here's the related article to the reporter who started this investigation:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/29/BUQLUAP8L.DTL

I noted that an article at Tech Talk has more information than NSA released. Like a $20,000,000 sale of Google stock by the CIA. Wonder how they got them and how General Accounting Office treats the profits?

A "search appliance" to search all data including the private data. In October of 2001 the NSA released a document outlining the compromise, for alledged security reason, all Internet services to aide their "freedom fighters" with all information at all times. I can ask them at TekTalk to find them again.

The original story is here http://www.tektalk.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16

Randy Penn, the source for that Tek Talk piece appears to be http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2005/11/cia-sells-googl.html . That article is only three sentences long, but the important two sentences are "In-Q-Tel, the venture capital of the CIA, recently announced a planned sale of 5,636 shares of Google stock worth over $2.2 million. The stock was most likely a result of In-Q-Tel's investment in Keyhole, a earth visualization software company acquired by Google in October 2004."

See my post debunking a Google/CIA connection from a while ago: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/debunking-google-in-bed-with-cia/ . I don't think anyone has emailed me any additional info since that post that would lend credence to the "CIA-Google connection" theory.