Despite assurances by the Bush administration that the Total Information
Awareness program would not violate Americans' civil liberties, a broad
coalition of grassroots organizations called Wednesday for greater
oversight of the experimental data-mining program.
The Pentagon is developing the TIA in an effort to scour the Internet, as
well as public and private databases, for suspicious patterns that might
indicate a potential terrorist threat.
Critics say the system would be Big Brother incarnate, a tool that would
pry into the medical, financial, travel and educational transactions of
law-abiding citizens. Proponents say the electronic dragnet is necessary to
protect the United States against future terrorist attacks.
During a telephone conference with reporters Wednesday, members of groups
representing the political spectrum -- from the conservative Eagle Forum to
the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union -- united to drum up support
for legislation that would withhold funding for the TIA until questions
about the program's potential for abuse were addressed.
"It's totally contrary to the freedoms that the war on terrorism aims to
protect," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Wyden's amendment -- which blocks
funding for the electronic dragnet until the administration submits a
detailed report to lawmakers regarding the program's scope and impact on
civil liberties -- was unanimously passed by the Senate in January.
The measure, which was tacked onto a spending package, needs to be adopted
by the House before becoming law.
But some conservative analysts, such as the Heritage Foundation's Paul
Rosenzweig, argue the Wyden amendment goes too far.
In an online analysis, Rosenzweig argues that if the measure becomes law,
it could hamper law enforcement efforts to stop future terrorist attacks.
The press conference also addressed concerns about the creation of a
central database that would store citizens' personal transactions and
information.
"The mere gathering of this information is a risk," said Barbara Simons of
the Association for Computing Machinery, a nonpartisan international
organization with 75,000 members.
ACM sent a letter to Congress in January questioning the feasibility of the
TIA's stated goals.
Not only would a central database be a potential magnet for hackers, but it
could also be targeted by terrorists themselves who are looking to steal an
innocent person's identity and mask their own, Simons said.
Department of Defense officials have consistently said that the TIA will
not pose privacy concerns
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