RESTRICTIONS ON TIA SURVEILLANCE INCLUDED IN 2003 BUDGET
Restrictions on controversial Total Information Awareness (TIA) program were kept in omnibus appropriations bill for 2003 that was passed by both House and Senate Thurs. night. Defense Dept. project was designed to develop data mining technologies that capture information from people on Internet and from medical, financial or educational databases.
Amendment to budget would withhold funding for project until Administration provided information about program’s scope and potential impact on privacy and civil liberties. Budget was passed after several continuing resolutions kept govt. funded.
TIA is project of Information Awareness Office in Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. “This will mean some new accountability for those who are running this secretive project,” Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.), who co-sponsored amendment. “It has been tempting, and too easy, for the Administration to plunge head-long toward big-brotherhood without accountability to the public or the Congress about what government agencies are doing to build and use these databases.” Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), which supported additional oversight of TIA, said it was very encouraged by amendment. “This is the first step in seeking oversight of a very intrusive technology,” said Lara Flint, CDT staff counsel. She said Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.), who introduced amendment, had said he was committed to pushing for more oversight of intrusive technologies being developed by the govt.
Bill also includes $16 million to fund the FTC’s do-not- call list. House on Wed. passed HR-395, which would require FTC to report to Congress on the progress of list and would require the FCC to develop similar list, since FTC lacked jurisdiction over many areas of telemarketing. House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), who introduced bill, said authorization and funding for list should be in separate bills.
FCC would get $271 million, of which $269 million would come from fees. Conference note on budget said it noted “lack of sound managerial and fiscal practices that have resulted in the FCC exceeding its authorized full time equivalent (FTE) level.” Congress said FCC should consult with Appropriations Committees in order to control cost. Conference note also said FCC should try to resurrect broadcast industry code of conduct of programming, as Congress has become concerned with declining broadcast standards.
Under budget, FTC would get $176 million, $2 million more than authorized in House and Senate bills, to be used to address physical security needs at FTC building. Bill directs FTC to work with FCC to address “fat finger” dialing scams. Also, FTC will continue to report on entertainment industry’s marketing of violent content to children.
Commerce Dept. was granted $5.6 billion in the appropriations package. NTIA would receive $14.7 million for salaries. NTIA will also administer $43.5 million in grants to develop public telecom facilities and another $15.5 million in grants for information infrastructure. Technology Administration (TA) will get $9.8 million and National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) $359 million, including $66 million for construction of new NIST facilities.
The Justice Dept. (DoJ) would get $24 billion for fiscal 2003, of which $4.2 billion would go FBI. Office of Domestic Preparedness will receive $1 billion to aid first responders and another $2 billion earmarked for state and local law enforcement assistance. Antitrust Div. of the DoJ would get $133 million. Trilogy, FBI’s information technology (IT) system, would get $126 million but requires reports to Congress that include what projects are being funded and what funding would be required in future.