Features

New York Times (02/12/03) reports that negotiators from the Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to prohibit the Pentagon from using the Total Information Awareness (TIA) project to spy on innocent American citizens.

The negotiators also agreed to halt all TIA research unless the Defense Department furnishes a detailed report on the feasibility of the project and its impact on privacy and civil liberties within 90 days instead of 60 days, as originally proposed.

Naming of two advisory panels (see previous item) was not enough to appease TIA critics.

The TIA system could still be used for lawful foreign intelligence and military operations, as long as their targets are non-American. The Pentagon's Lt. Cmdr. Donald Sewell insisted that TIA would not be used for domestic spying, and said the Defense Department considers it an important anti-terrorism tool. Still, the passage of the TIA amendment could be prevented if negotiators fail to agree on the spending bill it is a part of, or if President Bush successfully vetoes it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/politics/12PRIV.html

For a different view on Total Information Awareness, see Jack Kelly article, Data and danger - Let the government connect the dots in http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/col/20030216edkelly16p2.asp