From: CDT Info [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 05 February 2003 16:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Policy Post 9.04: Congress Considers Amendment to Rein in
Domestic Spying
CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 4, February 5, 2003
A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online
from
The Center For Democracy and Technology
(1) Congress to Decide Fate of DoD Data-Mining Program
(2) What is TIA and What Is Congress' Role?
(3) Next Step - The House Senate Conference Now Under Way
________________________________________
(1) Congress to Decide Fate of DoD Data-Mining Program
Congress is now facing a key decision about the Pentagon's
development of a massive tool to "mine" the data of innocent
Americans looking for suspicious conduct - the Total Information
Awareness (TIA) program.
Last month, the US Senate adopted an amendment ("the Wyden
amendment") holding up deployment of TIA until basic questions are
answered about its potential for error and abuse of privacy. But the
amendment hasn't passed the House yet, and the Pentagon has begun to
lobby against it.
CDT has set up a special web page where concerned citizens can find
out who their Members of Congress are, with phone numbers, to call
them and urge them to put some limits on TIA until basic questions
about its effectiveness and privacy implications are answered.
The web site is http://www.cdt.org/action/tia/.
________________________________________
(2) What is TIA and What Is Congress' Role?
TIA is a Defense Department research project aimed at developing
broad sweeps of commercial data, such as credit card records, store
purchases, travel records, Internet logs, and medical data - billions
of bits of information about the legal activities of innocent people.
The idea is to "mine" this data searching for suspicious patterns
that may indicate possible terrorists. It could aid investigators if
it worked, but so far no one has explained how to avoid errors that
can result in people mistakenly being flagged as "terrorists" - and
thereby subject to false arrests or being denied jobs because their
credit card usage - or their housemate's credit card usage or the
credit card usage of someone with a similar name - was suspicious.
CDT and many other privacy groups have raised concerns about the
program, urging a moratorium on deployment of it against US citizens
until basic questions can be answered. Better use of information in
public and private databases is clearly needed to help prevent
terrorism, but so far there are no guidelines on what data will be
used, under what standards it will be accessed, how long it will be
kept, how people will correct mistakes that could damage their
employment opportunities, etc.
In January, the Senate passed the Wyden Amendment (sometimes referred
to as "Amendment # 59") blocking use of the TIA program unless
Congress specifically authorizes it after the Administration submits
a report the amendment requires about the program and its effect on
privacy. The amendment was added to the omnibus continuing
appropriations act, the massive spending bill for fiscal 2003, which
passed the Senate on January 24.
The Wyden amendment and other materials about TIA are online at:
http://www.cdt.org/security/usapatriot/implementation.shtml#surveillance
________________________________________
(3) Next Step - The House Senate Conference Now Under Way
The Wyden amendment has passed the Senate, but not the House. The
next big challenge is to preserve the amendment "in conference." The
Senate bill must be reconciled with a House-passed spending bill that
contains no provision on TIA. The House has appointed some of its
senior Members to meet with senior Senators and work out the
differences between the two bills. There is pressure to do this
quickly, as the fiscal year is already 3 1/2 months old.
To find out what you can do, go to http://www.cdt.org/action/tia/.
You can find out who is your Representative in the House and how to
express your views on this important issue.
Forward this message (through Friday, February 14, 2003) to other
individuals interested in protecting privacy and responding
effectively to terrorism.
** Many experts recommend calling Congressional offices rather than
sending an email or fax. Studies have shown that personal phone
calls by informed voters are by far the most effective way to make a
difference over a short period of time. By the time the office reads
your email, fax or letter, it will probably be too late to have an
impact.
________________________________________
Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found
at http://www.cdt.org/ .
This document may be redistributed freely in full or linked to
http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.04.shtml .
Excerpts may be re-posted with prior permission of [log in to unmask]
Policy Post 9.04 Copyright 2003 Center for Democracy and Technology
_______________________________________________
http://www.cdt.org/mailman/listinfo/policy-posts
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