FBI set to mine the shinola out of some data
The FBI wants to compile a massive computer database and analyze it for clues to unmask terrorist sleeper cells. Two congressmen are worried about whether the bureau will protect the privacy of U.S. citizens.
The center “will leverage existing data-mining tools to help identify relationships between individuals, locations and events that may be indicators of terrorist or other activities of interest,” the Justice documents said, and these efforts “will improve efforts to identify ’sleeper cells.’”
Eleven workers in a Proactive Data Exploitation unit will be assigned to ferret out patterns of suspicious behavior in the data, the congressmen wrote.
They said the program resembles the Pentagon’s Total Information Awareness anti-terror data-mining research program. Congress ended TIA in 2003 out of privacy concerns, but much of its research was transferred to secret accounts in other agencies.
Here’s the reality:
- The FBI junked its Virtual Case File computerized records system in 2005 after spending $170 million without solving technical troubles. The replacement is reportedly running behind schedule.
- An FBI consultant was able to hack into classified bureau computers last year and access counterespionage and witness protection files and 38,000 FBI passwords, including Director Robert Mueller’s.
- In March, Justice’s inspector general found that FBI agents using National Security Letters “had demanded personal data without proper authorization, improperly obtained personal telephone records and banking records and underreported to Congress how often it used national security letters to obtain information on thousands of U.S. citizens.” The inspector general found 48 violations of law and estimated there were 3,000 violations between 2003 and 2005.
- The GAO found in 2005 that the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force did not comply with all privacy and security laws and rules for handling sensitive information.
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June 12, 2007 - 07:20 PM on June 12th, 2007
Hmmmm, I guess Echelon is okay as long as a Democrat is in the White House and only uses it for personal financial gain, but Able Danger wasn’t okay because it might actually pertain to an actual function of the government, i.e. providing for the common defence even if a Dem is in the White House. With a Republican in the White House and us actually at war, no form of surveillance, data mining, or other advanced intelligence gathering is acceptable because it is far more important to protect the privacy of a small percentage of the population than the lives of the populace as a whole. That seems to be a rather screwed up sense of priorities if you ask me. Doesn’t the Declaration of Independence list Life as the first inalienable right? Just a thought.
June 12, 2007 - 07:26 PM on June 12th, 2007
FAO, I agree with the program, but the FBI needs to clean up its’ act and take of of the internal problems!
June 12, 2007 - 09:13 PM on June 12th, 2007
Peejz, think about who was in the White House when most of the upper level agents started working there. Do you think that they might have been involved in other examples of FBI misconduct that was later swept under the rug? Say like Ruby Ridge or Waco?
Why is it that under Bush, some rogue FBI agents illegally collecting personal information is front page news for weeks, while under Clinton, federal agents killing a woman holding a child and her 14 yr old son while attempting to arrest her husband on trumped up charges doesn’t make the front page for more than a day or two if that? Charges that he was not only acquitted of, but were proven to be false? I don’t think we even need to discuss again how they screwed up the entire Waco disaster which practically disappeared from the headlines within a week of the Clinton Justice dept burning 80+ people including women and children alive. It was front page as long as it could be described as a bunch of religious wackos involved in a standoff with the government, but as soon as the government wrecklessly killed over 80 people, it was swept under the rug.
June 13, 2007 - 08:13 AM on June 13th, 2007
3- Please don’t get me started on Ruby Ridge or Waco:mad: To your point, yes these are left overs. I am not so sure Bush is the story here as much as the FBI…I don’t like the fact that an FBI consultant was able to hack into classified bureau computers last year and access counterespionage and witness protection files and 38,000 FBI passwords, including Director Robert Mueller’s. The spent 170 million and scrapped another system…I want to make sure they are doing this properly…Again, I agree with the program, just not the waste.
June 13, 2007 - 07:33 PM on June 13th, 2007
It’s the Government way of doing things. Nothing can get done until someone with a distinct desire for it to fail has approved the plan.
June 13, 2007 - 07:40 PM on June 13th, 2007
that is probably very true:lol:
June 16, 2007 - 09:04 AM on June 16th, 2007
We see the government took liberties, but we haven’t focused on any victims. The story won’t take shape until it looks like Watergate. Why would Democrats and Republicans spy on us? Clinton and Bush are guilty of abusing information to reshape the truth. Find the victims of spying in common to both administrations and you’ve found the “Patriot” who can explain just how corrupt this is. They can also explain why the politicians are motivated to ignore the truth because they think it’s in our best national interest. Get rid of Bush, Clinton, and silence the angry Blacks and this story can be told.