Congress to Eliminate
“Total Information Awareness”
Defense bill shuts down proposed
domestic surveillance program
September 24, 2003
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) today applauded the members of the House/Senate conference
on Defense Appropriations for their decision to eliminate the
Terrorism (formerly Total) Information Awareness (TIA) program.
This Defense Department database mining effort could have seriously
impacted on the privacy and civil liberties of American citizens.
“I’ve always said I believe that you
can fight terrorism vigorously without cannibalizing civil liberties,
and TIA did not meet that test,” said Wyden. “Time
and time again, the Defense Department sought to cross the line
on privacy and civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism.
The appropriators have wisely chosen to end this program.”
Conferees agreed to eliminate funding for the
Office of Information Awareness, the division of the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that included TIA.
They did allow funding to continue for select research projects
at DARPA, including Bio-Event Advanced Leading Indicator Recognition
Technology, Rapid Analytical Wargaming, Wargaming the Asymmetric
Environment, and Automated Speech and Text Exploitation in Multiple
Languages (including the Babylon and Symphony initiatives).
These programs are not data-mining initiatives, but are training
and data-collaborative programs that help agencies analyze evidence
and communicate with one another.
The conferees did not restrict the National Foreign
Intelligence Program (NFIP) from using technology tools developed
under TIA for foreign intelligence purposes.
“Congress is shutting down TIA, but we
are not foregoing the use of technology to sharpen our homeland
security efforts and track terrorists here and around the world,”
said Wyden.
TIA was originally conceived and directed by retired
Admiral John Poindexter, the former National Security Adviser
to former President Reagan. Earlier this year, Wyden won unanimous
passage of an amendment requiring a public report on the privacy
and civil liberties implications of programs under the TIA umbrella,
and requiring Congressional approval for the deployment or sharing
of any TIA technology. In July, Wyden and Sen. Byron Dorgan
(D-N.D.) exposed the TIA program known as “FutureMAP,”
which would have invited online betting on the possibility of
terrorist attacks around the world. The Defense Department quickly
eliminated FutureMAP; however, the controversy fueled concerns
over the privacy and civil liberties implications of other aspects
of TIA. Wyden joined the Senate appropriators in calling for
the program’s elimination.
The House and Senate must now agree to the conference
report before it is sent to the President for his signature.
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