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The Defense Department announced on Feb. 7 the creation of two panels tasked with overseeing the controversial Total Information Awareness (TIA) project, in response to criticism from Congress and other organizations that such a project, supposedly designed to prevent terrorist attacks, would be used to spy on innocent Americans through their computerized transactions. Undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics Edward Aldridge declared that he would lead an internal Pentagon oversight board composed of senior Pentagon officials, while the second panel would be set up outside the Pentagon and headed by Northwestern University professor of communications law Newton Minow.

The first panel, which will meet later this month, will oversee the employment of terrorist tracking tools and establish usage rules both inside and outside the Defense Department, while the second panel will supply the Secretary of Defense with advice on policy and legal issues. Although Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) lauded the formation of the oversight boards, he pledged that he will continue to advocate legislation to halt TIA funding, which he attached to a spending bill passed by the Senate. If approved by the rest of Congress, the moratorium will be in effect until the Pentagon furnishes a report detailing how TIA works and its impact on civil liberties.

Here is the full story from Reuters.