By: Mike Healan
July 9, 2003
Remember TIA, known formerly as Total Information Awareness and now as Terrorist Information Awareness? TIA is a new project by the United States Department of Defense. TIA's purpose is to amass a colossal database of information about American citizens and visitors to the country.
The stated goal of this project is to help protect America from terrorists. However, many fear that TIA will be abused by the US government to monitor US citizens who have nothing to do with terrorism or any other crime. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that the head of the project is Admiral John Poindexter, a man known for his contemptuous disregard for privacy rights and citizen oversight of government. Poindexter was once convicted of committing purgery before the US congress (a federal crime in the United States), although the conviction was later overturned.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab has opened its own database, a database of information on government employees. The database, located at http://opengov.media.mit.edu, will be updated constantly with information and documents submitted by the visitors of the web site. The idea is to build a community of citizen watchdogs keeping an ever watchful eye on the same people keeping an eye on them.
Personally, I like it. I like it a lot. I don't want to deny the government the ability to monitor suspected terrorists. On the other hand, I don't want the government abusing its tools by monitoring citizens who have nothing to do with terrorism.
I have noticed two trends ever since the Al Quaeda attacks of 9-11. One trend shows itself in the laws that have been passed since that horrible day, laws that give the government ever greater powers of surveillance and authority. The other trend is that certain key officials in positions of great power are obstructing the citizen oversight of government activities that is required by law. In my view, it is the latter trend that is more dangerous.
Like it or not, the US government and its agents have the ability to track nearly every detail of any person's life in which they take an interest. That in itself is not dangerous to our liberty. The danger lies in a government that feels that it is not accountable to those it governs and does not feel compelled to report its activities to them.
I don't fear the FBI tapping my telephone. What I fear is the FBI tapping my telephone, and not being required to tell anyone they're doing it.
This article is located at http://www.spywareinfoforum.info/articles/gia/
Link:
http://opengov.media.mit.edu :: Government Information Awareness web site
