Our blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

MORE
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
Katrina's Aftermath
US News
Bush Crime Family News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Support Bloggers' Rights!

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

GAO Report Reveals Rampant Federal Data Mining
(Caron Carlson, eWeek, May 27, 2004)
Congress put the kibosh on the Pentagon's Terrorism Information Awareness electronic surveillance program in February, but data mining remains alive and thriving throughout the federal government. A General Accounting Office report released Thursday enumerates nearly 200 data mining initiatives in operation or in the works. . . . Scores of data-mining projects that collect and analyze U.S. citizens' personal information are in operation at dozens of federal agencies, the GAO found. Many of the nearly 200 projects planned or already under way rely on data purchased from the commercial sector. . . . Civil rights advocates have raised concerns that the government's use of commercial data—rather than data it collects itself—allows agencies to dodge laws protecting citizens' privacy. . . . initiatives draw from a variety of private-sector databases and personal information for the purpose of analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist or criminal activity. The Department of Defense alone has 47 data-mining projects planned or already in place. . . . The Department of Homeland Security, the national clearinghouse for security-related data, draws the most extensively from personal and private-sector information for its data-mining initiatives. One DHS system in operation, called "Analyst Notebook 12," correlates people and events with other, unidentified information. . . . Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, civil rights advocates have raised concerns over the potential for blurring lines between the military and civilian law enforcement. . . . The report also illustrates the extent to which many federal agencies beyond the Department of Justice are involved in criminal investigation through data mining.

posted by LoZo 2:55 PM