DOD CREATES 2-TIERED TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS REVIEW PROCESS

Dept. of Defense (DoD) created 2 blue-ribbon panels to address privacy concerns involving Total Information Awareness (TIA) project and to establish procedures to oversee transfer of TIA technology to other agencies once system was developed. TIA program, conducted by Defense Advanced Research Agency, seeks to develop multimedia data mining and electronic surveillance system to detect patterns of terrorists before they strike.

Defense Undersecy. of Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Peter Aldridge, who unveiled TIA initiative Fri. in news conference at Pentagon, will chair internal oversight board. Former FCC Chmn. Newton Minow is chmn. of external advisory board, which will convene as formal federal advisory committee. It will advise Defense Secy. Donald Rumsfeld on legal and policy issues raised by development of advanced technologies with counterterrorism applications.

Panels were created in response to congressional attempts to freeze spending on TIA and other data mining projects, Aldridge said. Senate recently passed amendment to budget that would impose moratorium on federal financial support of data mining projects. Amendment, by Senate Commerce Technology Subcommittee ranking Democrat Wyden (Ore.), is similar to legislation by Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee ranking Democrat Feingold (Wis.).

Both measures generally would withhold federal funds from data mining R&D or deployment until additional details of TIA and other programs were disclosed and privacy protections were assured. Aldridge said DoD had “been working with Congress on amendment” and briefed Wyden on latest developments in TIA program. Aldridge said he was hopeful “that we can come to compromise.”

Wyden spokeswoman said DoD’s recognition of public and congressional concerns over DARPA program was welcome development. However, she said establishment of DoD oversight panels wouldn’t eliminate action by Congress to shed light on specifics of TIA: “It in no way erases the need for congressional oversight of the TIA program, nor for congressional authorization to actually deploy the technology.”

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Senior Fellow Wayne Madsen said in interview that neither panel membership nor administrators of DARPA’s Information Assurance Office (IAO) would ease privacy concerns. He said EPIC would continue to oppose creation of TIA system. Referring to IAO Chief John Poindexter -- a key figure in Iran-Contra scandal of Reagan Administration -- he said: “Under the current management, we are very much opposed to it… This is not the kind of management you want to have when you're seeking public disclosure and transparency.”

Aldridge acknowledged in briefing that DoD hadn’t consulted with privacy groups before launching TIA oversight endeavor. He said oversight panels were composed of “people who have the expertise to pursue these issues.”