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GAO Studies U.S. Government Data Mining
securitas writes "Total Information Awareness is alive and thriving. eWEEK's Caron Carlson reports on a new General Accounting Office study that says TIA-style data mining programs are rampant in federal agencies with 199 projects at 52 of 128 agencies. The Defense Intelligence Agency/DoD is the single largest user of these data mining projects (eg. Verity K2 Enterprise). The story was first reported by Reuters' Andy Sullivan (ZDNet UK mirror) and the NYT's Robert Pear, who wrote that at least 122 projects used personally identifying information like names, e-mail addresses, Social Security and driver's license numbers. The 'actual numbers are likely to be much higher' because the report excludes classified projects. Wired News' Kim Zetter writes that, in addition to government databases, federal agencies mine private databases of credit rating agencies, bank account numbers, student loan applications, etc. This week the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) released a report with privacy guidelines for data mining technology (PDF) development and use. Guidelines include data anonymization, government data access authorization and audit trails. Cynthia (Cindy) Webb's 'Total Information Dilemma' at the Washington Post is an excellent survey of media coverage of TIA, MATRIX and the GAO report 'Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses' (mirror, both in PDF format). More at GCN, GovExec and the Guardian/AP."
Just tell me which link to click so I can RTFA.
Post: Sigged, for your pleasure.
I live in Canada. Where only coporations do that sorta thing. NO Radioshak employee #1293 you do not need my address name and first born to sell me this 2$ gizmo
A psychopath can't tell the difference between right and wrong. A sociopath knows the difference - he just doesn't care.
From the article... "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"
They are purchasing the information from the commercial sector", information that is readily available to anyone willing to pay for it. Congress stopped their TIA initiative, but will allow this due to that major fact.
Hmmm.
Cue 200 posts about how terrible this is. It's not atually very different to what the law-enforcement community's been doing all along, just the tools are better.
It's like the argument about ID cards - there's nothing inherently wrong with being able to conclusively prove that you are who you say you are, but it's another thing entirely for people to be able to demand you prove the same.
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
Bless you for posting this information. Quite an eye-opener. Good research.
Without laws preventing such mis-use, it runs rampant. European laws guarding personal information are much stronger than in the US, where corporate and government interests and methods are closely aligned, especially these days.
The game of Go (Igo, Weiqi, Baduk) has the simplest concept and the deepest play.
Like the Abu Ghraib Humiliation scandal the intellectual direction has been set at the top levels of the administration, even though the work on the projects is being done by lowly Primary Investigators.
What I wonder is whether the ones setting the intellectual agenda in the administration have any idea ofwhere they are leading us.
I fear, that one day we will be left in shock and awe when we discover that their idea of "preventing terrorism" was as well thought out as the idea of democratizing Iraq. We will all be at the mercy of a State that, like the Iraqi Monster, has grown too big for them to bully around. And then all of us, being in the same boat, will realize that those bas***** in the administration are screwed - but so are we.
.
To see a world in a grain of sand, and then to step back and see the beach where the sand lies
They want the massive database to fight "terrorism", as they say it. Now, lets just think about what's been going on lately;
1: Police officers have been taking pictures of protesters to throw into databases. Additionally, wearing masks is now illegal in most cities.
2: Facial recognition software enabled camera's are going up everywhere. Sure, the software barely works but it'll get better. This is first justified in protecting people in high crime areas like chicago, and then will move out as far into the suburbs as they can justify it.
3: Our economy is going to shit and we're going farther and farther into that hole.
4: Massive databases of personal information are being assembled by our goverment.
5: Our constitutional rights are gone.
6: And to put the decorations on the cake, at the G8 summit at Sea Island in Georga, an order to "fire to kill" was given to all police officers in the state in regards to whoever they found was acting suspiciously. This means that if you're a protester outside of the building, the cops and military in the area can legally shoot and kill you.
So, we've got our reichstag fire (9/11), we've got our Decree of the Reich president(Patriot act), now we're waiting for the enabling law (aka, the law that let the reichstag put people into concentration camps).
Candy-Coated Knowledge
I figure that the government is so bad at effeciently using information anyway this doesn't matter. I don't know how this is a big deal compared to corporate data mining. Government is at least motivated by "serving the people" (yeah yeah Iknow that is nto always true) where corporate uses of data are motivated by serving shareholders interests (At least most of the time- *cough*Enron*cough*).
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
its a well rounded summary of a specific topic that includes links to back up nearly every point made _in_ the summary, click on the points you dont understand or would like to learn more about, skip over the rest and forget about it.
the poster has apparently gone to a fair ammount of trouble to bring these links together into a nice written summary so that you dont have to go out and search for the information yourself (as if you would anyway... pfft).
point being...
If you are too lazy to click on a few links to see the information, you should go back to the other room, turn on the TV sit down and shut the fuck up.
I can't agree less. The current administration has done a nearly flawless job so far.
Bush administration officials ARE responsible for the objectionable actions at Abu Gharib and ARE taking action against those that committed them. That's what being responsible means. Compare that to the previous administration that dodged most responsibility and lied to cover it up.
Don't poor-mouth the intellectual agenda. It is brilliant and is working.
I work for an electrical company in Florida and the local Police agency has access to our customer records whenever they want. Must make it easier for them to track people. - This also reminds me of the time I spent in a hotel for a few weeks. During my stay I noticed police cars in the front once in a while. I wonder if hotels share their customer info also. Hmmm. Makes ya think doesn't it?
This is why I'm working on a master's degree in data mining. Better to be on the inside. I for one welcome the chance to be your data mining overlord! Buahahaha!
Here is the EU Personal Data Directive (95/46/EC), which is the basis/minimum for the data protection laws of each EU and EEA country. The Norwegian Personal Data Act is supposedly the toughest of them all. It's interesting to compare the nuances.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
I have trouble seeing how the availability of information is in itself a bad thing. Yes, it can be used to draw false conclusions, but that is a fault of its use, not its existence. And its not like false conclusions are never drawn without databases of public information. Anyone ever heard of racial profiling?
We should not worry about regulating the existence of such databases, we should instead regulate its use. Don't let the police get a search warrant based solely on data they found in a database, but allow them to query the databases to help them obtain the necessary evidence.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
Oh my dear lord, they're going to figure out that I buy computer books AND read _College Roomies from Hell_. And you know what that means!
/. Yeah.
Or maybe they'll be convinced I'm a terrorist because I read CNN *and*
2. Data Quality Principle
Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date.
How does the government separate the junk data from what may actually be worth looking at?
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
3: Our economy is going to shit and we're going farther and farther into that hole.
GDP is growing faster. Unemployment is going down. Manufacturing is strong. The stock markets are moving up. Now by what measure does this translate to "shit"?
The facts are so clear the US economy is back on track again, why do these idiots keep sticking to their view from 3 years ago? This meme needs to die. It's not true, and it's certainly not insightful.
Slashdot Moderation: From positive to terrible in 2 "insightful" posts.
now we're waiting for the enabling law (aka, the law that let the reichstag put people into concentration camps).
You mean a law that would allow people to be detained without a reason, thrown in a Guantanamo Bay prison and not allowed to speak to anyone including legal counsel? Don't be silly that will never happen!
This is not active privacy invading surveillance by the government. The is consolidating information from "publicly"/consented sources to look for trends. Consolidating legal and publicly available data is not invasion of privacy. These projects are forms of "passive surveillance", where we combine and consolidate information from a variety of already known sources to produce information that was not apparent before.
...o wait I don't have a tin hat on, and tin hats are in fashion right now on /.; time to watch this get modded down.
This is the government. We have laws, and a Constitution that (purportedly) protects us from the government by limiting its power through a series of checks and balances. Yes, this information may be available to the general public, but John Q. Public doesn't have military or police force that come beating in your front door and taking you into custody because your personal information matches a certain pattern - whatever that may be.
Herein lies, I'd argue, at least one reason behind the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It basically says to the government, "If you don't have a reason to be looking at John Q. Public, you shouldn't be looking at John Q. Public." These projects constitute a massive fishing expedition, and we're all suspect.
First of all, in Europe, data is collected for specific purposes (use limitation principle) and can only be used for these specific purposes and not for other purposes, unless the data subject explicitly consents to new use.
Secondly, whether or not data is "legal" and "pubicly available," you have to get consent from the data subject in order to use that data. And of course you would still be bound by the use limitation principle.
"Passive surveillance" is not prudent, as the data collector risks collecting "junk data" (data that is incorrect, false, outdated, etc.), in addition to risking data subjects filing lawsuits.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
And I'd argue that this (even though it might be the current standing of the U.S. Supreme Court), has no merit, and the reason is simple: Our society is built on an infrastructure that, for all practical purposes requires that I do certain things. I have little choice but to place my trash out on a curb for pickup, because there are few, if any other practical options. The fact that I have few (if any) other practical options does not portend or in any way grant anyone a "right" to take advantage of something merely because it is available, and especially because its availability is a byproduct of the infrastructure itself. I use the infrastructure because, as a pragmatic and civil-minded denizen, I must.
Let's address the issue with the "publicly available" information. While there are certain records that are unquestionably public information, I'd argue that what I purchase is NOT public information- each purchase is a contract between myself and those vendors with which I choose to do business. Unfortunately, the easy availability, and wide use of credit, have allowed institutions to hijack, retain, sell, and otherwise use the specific details associated with each transaction, and make them available as they see fit.
Something to think about - Let's say I cut my finger while preparing dinner. I use a kleenex to clean the wound, before applying a bandaid. What am I now to do with the kleenex? It has my blood on it, and presumably, can serve as a "sample" for anyone interested in fishing it out of my garbage. What am I to do? I don't believe that anyone has has a right to acquire this without my permission, or without a warrant. I am placing it in the garbage not because I have any intention of making it available to the public, but because this is the proper and accepted method of disposal.
Here you can see the quandary imposed by a) the infrastructure, and b) the court's current standing. I don't believe it is fair, and I hope to see it change at some point in the future.
The GAO report that surveyed government departments to find out how much data mining they're doing and planning is interesting. In particular, the appendix that lists which departments don't do or plan to do any data mining has a few notable inclusions:
You'd expect some of those to have data mining as their primary function. Others are just hard to believe.