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Return to Article: Lawmakers move to halt funds for data-mining plan

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  Good afternoon,

  After reading this article it is difficult for me to reasonably comprehend why DHS did not have the privacy considerations for this data mining program evaluated "Before" it considered it and ask for funding for it. From my perspective as a security professional, not doing so strongly indicates that this data mining program was not well thought out if thought out in advance at all. That's very concerning as privacy of consumers data which may be mined in this program, also poses a likely and significant national security concern depending on who's data is being mined and how that data is managed once it has been mined.

  Regards, Jeffrey A. Williams Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)

  Jeffrey A. Williams Posted June 14, 2007 4:53 PM
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  Okay, I'll bite. Wasn't this the job of that political appointee, Hugo Teufel, the DHS Privacy Czar? What ARE we paying him to do and exactly how much? "It's all about transparency," the official said. "We want the public to know what we're doing and that we're taking good care of their information. There is nothing devious being done there."

  RIGHT! So exactly what has Hugo been doing since he was appointed back in May '06? And Maureen Cooney before him? Sen. Widen, D-Ore, questioned Hugo's experience and background prior to his appointment. I guess he was right.

  Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't the ADVICE program merely the latest incarnation of Poindexter's and Lehman's DARPA project the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program that has been in development and refinement since at least October 2001?

  Despite assurances to the contrary, "the program was expected to be in a testing phase for at least a year and possibly as long as two years", excuse me but DARPA was running tests with commercially available data even prior to 9/11. As a matter of fact, retired Rear Admiral Poindexter, TIA advocate, was instrumental in developing distributed data management systems as the Deputy Commander of the Naval Education and Training Command back in 1987.

  So I ask; how much of this is really surprising? And how much of this is disinformation designed to lead people to think that such a program may end?

  I must admit to feeling a tad like Jerry Fletcher, the eccentric taxi driver in The Conspiracy Theory, but all these questions stem from reading the GovExec articles and simply remembering what has been said in the past. As they say, "There is nothing new under the sun." But disinformation has been taken to an unprecedented level by this administration.

  Tip off Posted June 12, 2007 10:31 AM