Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Hearings Sought on Data Agency

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 14:11:50 -0500

Hearings Sought on Data Agency

By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 14, 2003; Page E05

Some members of Congress and civil liberties groups want
to learn more about a new surveillance project run by
former national security adviser John M. Poindexter,
concerned that the Pentagon's effort to design a computer
system that can sweep up massive amounts of personal
data from around the world threatens personal privacy.

Poindexter's Information Awareness Office began a year
ago as part of a push to employ data surveillance and
profiling technology in the war on terrorism. It aims to
design a system that can analyze mountains of data on
everyday transactions -- such as credit card purchases and
travel records -- for signs of danger.

In a series of recent letters and statements, Democrats and
Republicans said Poindexter's initiative should be the
subject of congressional hearings. Sen. Tom Harkin
(D-Iowa), a member of the Senate Appropriations
Committee's subcommittee on defense, complained
yesterday that the Pentagon has not been forthcoming
about the initiative.

Last week, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and other
Democrats sought information from Attorney General John
D. Ashcroft about any ties between the Justice Department
and the project. Separately, Sen. Charles E. Grassley
(R-Iowa) met with officials from the Defense Department's
inspector general's office a few weeks ago to address his
own concerns, an aide said.

Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) will introduce legislation
this week calling for the suspension of data-mining efforts
until Congress "has completed a thorough review" of the
Poindexter program, his office said yesterday.

And a coalition of several liberal and conservative civil
liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties
Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, wants Congress to stop funding the
initiative as
part of a broader campaign to slow the development of government data surveillance
systems,
according to a letter to be sent to Congress as soon as today.

Because of the recent controversy, Poindexter's office removed from its Web site an emblem
that had
become a focal point of criticism. It features a variation of the great seal of the United
States: An eye
looms over a pyramid and appears to scan the world. The motto reads Scientia Est Potentia,
or
"knowledge is power."

In a recent interview, Poindexter said his office understands the need for restrictions on
such a system
to protect privacy. But he said authorities need to take full advantage of technology to
root out
terrorists before they can strike. He said it will be up to Congress and policymakers to
establish limits.
His office has already begun working with other agencies to improve their use of data
systems.

The retired Navy rear admiral, a central figure in the Iran-contra scandal in the 1980s,
did not return
telephone calls yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51844-2003Jan13.html

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