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Homeland Security Tests Snoop Computer System
Parallax Blue writes "The Washington Times reports that Homeland Security has developed and is testing a new computer system called ADVISE (Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement) that collects and analyzes personal information on US citizens. Relevant data 'can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information.' The program apparently uses the same process as the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness project, which was aborted in 2003 due to privacy concerns."
Echelon is a very old cover name that hasn't been used in 20 years. These days it's UKUSA. Such terms only describe a very specific type of connection between a number of allied countries anyway, in itself the term has virtually nothing to do with the article. The system that is described has been in existence in one form or another ever since electronic based intelligence gathering began. Only the complexity has changed.
The system that is described in the article is not new at all (many others have pointed this out already), the cost is generally between 1 and 10 million USD depending on the number of inputs needed. It is not a single black box, but made up of a collection of hardware that is far from small in size.
Don't take my word for it though - I can neither confirm or deny anything I say.
-- Ex Them.