Posted on 03/08/2007 6:39:04 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
Homeland Security officials are testing a supersnoop computer system that sifts through personal information on U.S. citizens to detect possible terrorist attacks, prompting concerns from lawmakers who have called for investigations.
The system uses the same data-mining process that was developed by the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project that was banned by Congress in 2003 because of vast privacy violations.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the project called ADVISE -- Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement -- was requested by Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
The investigation focuses on whether the program violates privacy laws, and the findings will be released after completion of the Iraq war supplemental spending bill, possibly as early as this week, a panel aide said.
The ADVISE and TIA data-mining projects rely on personal data to track individual behavior and consumer transactions to develop computer algorithms that create a pattern that some behavioral scientists say can predict terrorist behavior.
Data can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information.
Privacy concerns prompted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to introduce legislation in January to require that government agencies disclose data-mining practices in regular reports to Congress.
"A serious discussion on the implications of data-mining programs is long overdue," Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat and a sponsor of the bill, said yesterday. Sen. John E. Sununu, New Hampshire Republican, is also a bill sponsor. "Many Americans are understandably concerned about the idea of secret government programs analyzing their personal information. Congress needs to know more about the operational aspects and privacy implications of data-mining programs before these programs are allowed to go forward," Mr. Feingold said........."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Very badly . It would turn solely domestic in a rapid manner .
Exactly . Hitlary wouldn't need Craig Livingstone to steal the documents , they would all be right there for the downloading .
This is a fishing expedition for data on citizens.
Terrorism was simply the pretext to get the sheeple to comply.
Honestly, when have you ever seen anything of this importance not misused by either side of the government. This is bad, bad business.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales left open the possibility of pursuing criminal charges against FBI agents or lawyers who improperly used the USA Patriot Act in pursuit of suspected terrorists and spies.
How about the idiots who gave us this travesty?
...in pursuit of suspected terrorists and spies.
What a lie.
Stock up now. Use cash, and buy only at gun shows.
As if terrorists are going to use a credit card to purchase a bomb.
The problem is that the fed has allowed in so many terrorists that they must track us all.
What the fed should be doing is advising muhammed he might want to consider returning to his homeland til this so called WOT is over. Muhammed should be advised that things might get a little testy here if we have another terrorist attack.
Of course we can't do that. That would be offensive to the religion of peace. /sarc
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