This is Long But Worth the Read:
Although the Senate passed a spending bill yesterday that was $15 billion over budget, they deserve a round of applause for taking the axe to a defense department program that bears a little too much resemblance to Orwell's Big Brother. Civil libertarians and ordinary citizens alike should be glad to know that funding for the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program will be terminated unless DoD can perform the daunting task of proving a serious risk to national security exists without the program.
TIA was created with the mission of developing a computer system that would purportedly track potential terrorist activity by collecting and tracking a shocking amount of personal information. The system would have the capacity to monitor all public interactions including credit card transactions, medical records, issuance of driver's licenses, and even personal email communication. Supposedly this massive data mine would only be used to uncover suspicious patterns associated with terrorist activities, allowing authorities to catch terrorists before they can attack.
It is less than comforting to know that former Admiral John Poindexter, of Iran/contra fame, has been chosen to direct the TIA. Although Poindexter is infamous for defrauding the national government and lying to Congress, he promises that his program will "ensure that the private information on innocent citizens is protected." Considering that Poindexter once claimed that it was his duty to withhold information from Congress and the American people, maybe we can trust him to withhold our personal data from those who shouldn't have access to it.
However, despite the TIA's wonderful intentions to shield American's from the improper access of their personal data, it's highly unlikely that an acceptable level of protection can even be guaranteed. For example, when Allstate Insurance Company was given access to state driving records, the company reported 131 occasions of employees using these records for personal reasons.
If entrusting such a ridiculous amount of your personal information to an agency run by Mr. Poindexter hasn't already got you looking up Ted Kaczynski's real estate agent, the kicker is that the system will also have immunity from any privacy laws.
In addition to the potential for total abolishment of our civil liberties, the creation of the TIA should also raise eyebrows for fiscal reasons. The plan would be funded at $137 million in its first year alone and the Congressional Research Service estimates it will cost taxpayers $575 million from 2004 to 2007. This funding would be authorized despite the fact that the folks at TIA have no clear plan for accomplishing their goal and there is little evidence that what they want to create is even possible.
Many computer experts have argued that the proposed system would be too overloaded with information. Attempting to track billions of daily transactions would cause so much traffic congestion that the system isn't likely to be capable of functioning. In addition, there is a huge margin of error for inaccuracies. Even a 99.9% accuracy rate will result in 250,000 false positives each year.
The Senate was right to withhold funding for this program. The House ought to follow suit and turn the TIA into a bad idea that almost happened. Just like CBS cancelled its "Big Brother" reality TV show, Congress needs to fully axe the TIA.
