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EFF's Tien on DARPA's TIA Report

Posted by timothy on from the harshing-their-mellow dept.

scubacuda writes "Lee Tien, EFF's Senior Staff Attorney, critically looks at DARPA's 'Report to Congress regarding the Terrorism Information Awareness Program.' Tien considered the report a major disappointment. 'The government had an opportunity to open public discourse about TIA; for the most part, it chose to hide behind broad and vague generalities.' The 'report's discussion of privacy is too limited.' It 'ignores problems in existing privacy laws,' and 'gives short shrift to other civil liberty issues.'"

16 comments

  1. Write your own damn report by ObviousGuy · · Score: 1

    This was a report from a government agency to the law-making governmental body. Did you think they'd throw in anything but a defanged, easily disputable con argument?

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    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  2. umm civil liberties??? by shaitand · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For those who don't know, DARPA = Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, aka the MILITARY. These aren't exactly the guys who can be counted on to consider civil liberties.

    1. Re:umm civil liberties??? by Old+Uncle+Bill · · Score: 1

      Most people are not smart enough to figure all of that technical discourse out. Remember back in math class, that whole "lowest common denominator" thing? That's how our officials get elected, they are the lcd. You cannot deny it. So, with that in mind, I bring you Total Information Awareness. If you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear! The US government is only there to look out for your best interests. What other motivations would they have?

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      Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
    2. Re:umm civil liberties??? by xutopia · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Actually that is Terrorism Information Awareness now. It's not so bad now is it?

      Next the Bush administration will call tax cuts "economy boost package" rather than what it is "getting rich off the backs of normal Americans"

      Of course it's for the best interest of Americans*

      *Well admitedly a selected bunch, the Bush, Dick and Colon families...

    3. Re:umm civil liberties??? by Alsee · · Score: 1

      Remember back in math class, that whole "lowest common denominator" thing?

      Yep. My recollection is that most people would have done better trying to pick the right answer with a Ouija board.

      That's how our officials get elected

      Sigh. So true.

      -

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      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  3. T for Texas, T for Tennessee by stanwirth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Interesting how the T in TIA went from "Total" to "Terrorism" in one swell foop. sigh! Oh well.

    "T for Texas, T for Tennessee" is from an old Jimmy Rogers song by the same name.

    1. Re:T for Texas, T for Tennessee by uncoveror · · Score: 0

      They may have changed the name to Terrorism Information Awareness, but nothing has really changed. It is still "The Beast."

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      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
  4. But I feel safer now by chriso11 · · Score: 3, Funny

    When it was called Total Information Awareness, I was against it. Of course, the new Terrorism Information Awareness is a good thing. It will help defend us against evildoers and terrorists. Anyone against it must be supporters of terrorists!!

    I'm glad we can trust the Government. It's not like before, when the Government was run by those perverted Democrats!

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    No, I don't trust in god. He'll have to pay up front, like everybody else.
  5. In further news.... by HotNeedleOfInquiry · · Score: 3, Funny
    A terrifying bill was passed by congress during the NBA playoffs.

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    "Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
  6. GCD by js7a · · Score: 2, Informative

    The term is Greatest Common Denominator, but the merit of the metaphor stands.

    1. Re:GCD by Old+Uncle+Bill · · Score: 1

      Hahaha. I was not a math major (obviously). So that's like +1 for metaphor and -1 for dumbass, right?

      --
      Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
  7. Anti-SARS masks and face recognition by phr2 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Face recognition is one of the TIA components Tien lists. I see a lot of folks wearing surgical masks to ward off SARS infection. I wonder if those masks could stay in style after the SARS panic tapers off, and whether there are some that cover enough of the face to defeat face recognition cameras.

    Kill two birds with one stone.

    1. Re:Anti-SARS masks and face recognition by sakyamuni · · Score: 1

      I don't think one need be too cynical to imagine that the government might forbid the wearing of masks under certain circumstances, as sometime happens with gas masks during demonstrations.

      In any case, some face recognition techniques can be adapted to work even when some features are concealed. For example, the eigenface method can be applied to individual facial features, resulting in eigeneyes, eigennoses and eigenmouths which can be used for matching. MIT has done this with some success (scroll down to the section titled "Modular Eigenspaces").

    2. Re:Anti-SARS masks and face recognition by spotteddog · · Score: 1

      What about those people who for religeous reasons cover their faces? Seems like a pretty big problem for facial recognition......

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      . there used to be a sig here.....
    3. Re:Anti-SARS masks and face recognition by aerique · · Score: 1

      They are terrorists, all of them!

  8. Did you get that memo? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just hope they remembered to put a cover sheet on that TIA report.