COVER STORY
Senator Assails
'Total Info Awareness'

by Roggie McFadden

WASHINGTON, DC -- January 17, 2003 -- Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) has introduced legislation to cut funding for the Total Information Awareness (TIA) initiative which was authorized as part of the Homeland Security Act signed into law in December by President Bush.

"This unchecked system is a dangerous step that threatens one of the values we are fighting for - freedom," said Feingold, the only Senator who voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the hastily-conceived 'anti-terrorism' law pushed through Congress in 2001.

According to a press release issued by Sen. Feingold, if the TIA program becomes reality, a central database will be established which, "would allow the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense to collect and analyze a combination of intelligence data and personal information like individuals' traffic violations, credit card purchases, travel records, medical records, [and] communications records."

Two other Senators, Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ), are joining Feingold in co-sponsoring the legislation, but no Senate Republicans are presently taking a stand against TIA.

The web site for the nebulous Information Awareness Office (IAO) informs surfers that its purpose is to, "imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving Total Information Awareness useful for preemption." This convoluted and cryptic description should confuse the discerning reader enough to know that the IAO has surveillance plans far beyond countering "Islamic terrorism."

Heading the IAO is John M. Poindexter, a national security adviser in the Reagan administration who was appointed by President Bush in February 2002 to oversee the 'data-mining' of Americans' personal records. Poindexter was convicted of five felonies in 1990 for lying to Congress and obstructing investigations into the 'Iran-Contra Affair.' These convictions were overturned in 1991 because Poindexter had previously been granted immunity when testifying before Congress.

Unfortunately, the bill to be presented in the Senate by Feingold does not provide for complete elimination of TIA, and would only suspend funding for it until there have been some Congressional hearings about the program, and a demonstration of the benefits of 'data-mining.'

"It is reasonable to ask Americans to sacrifice some personal freedoms like submitting to more extensive security screenings at airports," said Feingold. "But we should not allow the government to track our every move - from what items we purchase online, to our medical records, to our financial records, without limits and without accountability."

As more Americans become 'totally aware' of the ramifications of TIA (i.e. There will now be a central computer at the Pentagon that will be able to monitor every transaction you ever have or ever will make, totally destroying any expectation of privacy!), opponents hope to pass legislation that might effectively bury this proto-totalitarian baby before it learns to walk.

From Wilshire Gazette (February 2003)

A 'TOTAL INFORMATION
AWARENESS' AMERICA?

New York Times columnist William Safire described best what life will be like soon with this new database analyzing our movements and expenditures (to keep us safe from terrorists, of course!):

Every purchase you make with a credit card,
Every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill,
Every Web site you visit and
e-mail you send or receive,
Every academic grade you receive,
Every bank deposit you make,
Every trip you book and
every event you attend ---

All these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as 'a virtual, centralized grand database.'

Further Reading
Dec 2002 - TIA: 'A supersnoop's dream'
Dec 2002 - Outsourcing Big Brother: Total Information Awareness Relies on Private Sector to Track Americans
Oct 2002 - UK: ISPs Revolt Against Gov't Surveillance Plans
Sep 2002 - UK 'leads way' in communication surveillance
Oct 1997 - KEEP BIG BROTHER'S HANDS OFF THE INTERNET - By Senator John Ashcroft

----

Reader Comments

No Comments.

Citizine Home