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US Shuts Down Controversial Anti-Terror Database

coondoggie writes "The massive anti-terror database established by the US government has been criticized for keeping track of regular everyday citizens. Computerworld reports that as of September 17th, the database will be shut down. 'The Threat and Local Observation Notices or TALON, was established in 2002 by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz as a way to collect and evaluate information about possible threats to U.S. service members and defense civilians all over the world. Congress and others protested its apparent use as an unauthorized citizen tracking database. The TALON system came under fire in 2005 for improperly storing information about some civilian individuals and non-government-affiliated groups on its database. The Air Force developed TALON... in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a way to gather data on possible terrorist threats. Anti-war groups and other organizations, protested after it was revealed last year that the military had monitored anti-war activities, organizations and individuals who attended peace rallies.'"

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  1. Re:And TALON will be replaced by? by Starcom8826 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    No but you probably do. I wasn't trying to do anything of the sort. I could care less about what petty kids such as yourself think of me on /. You almost went the distance but tripped in the final stretch. Yeah my observation doesn't contribute much to the larger point under discussion, mainly because what I was responding to contributes absolutely nothing at all (my point if you missed it). There is absolutely no way you can evaluate the statement made, which essentially makes discussion of it meaningless and pointless. Now if (s)he he was discussing how to prevent such a program from recurring or patterns that suggest such a program being underneath the radar, that would definitely be meaningful. Saying that they're likely to start another program we'll never know about is pointless. You can never argue this point, and it is truly a waste of time. So yeah, if you can't even wrap your head around that, then go think about it a bit more before you waste anyone's time.