US profiling program raises fears
p2pnet.net news:- US government technologists testing a proposed new data-mining system may already have violated privacy laws by, “reviewing real information, instead of fake data”.
So says The Washington Post, stating the $42.5 million Department of Homeland Security program would, “attempt to spot terrorists by combing vast amounts of information about average Americans, such as flight and hotel reservations”.
Called Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE), it’s similar to a Pentagon program killed by Congress in 2003 over concerns about civil liberties and could take effect as soon as next year, says the story, continuing:
“The privacy violation, described in a Government Accountability Office report that is due out soon, was one of three by separate government data mining programs, according to the GAO. ‘Undoubtedly there are likely to be more,’ GAO Comptroller David M. Walker said in a recent congressional hearing.”
Privacy advocates worry about programs based on sheer statistical analysis because of the potential that people can be wrongly accused, says The Washington Post.
“They will turn up hundreds of soccer teams, family reunions and civil war re-enactors whose patterns of behavior happen to be the same as the terrorist network,” it has Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, saying.
Some lawmakers, “are demanding greater program disclosure,” says the story, adding:
“A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) would require the Bush administration to report to Congress the extent of its data-mining programs.”
Also See:
The Washington Post – New Profiling Program Raises Privacy Concerns, February 28, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
March 1st, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Attack, Breach, Undermine, Scare, Enslave
March 1st, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I for one look forward to the day that the US govt rescues us all from the threat of girl scouts. I mean think about it, they wear uniforms, engage in survival training, have distinct ranks and chains of command, hold meetings that the general public are not invited to, and they engage in fundraising activities. Are you seriously trying to tell me that these girlscouts are NOT a bunch of terrorists? Get real! Of course they are, what else could they be?