Did Congress pass a sham law to quiet Total Information Awareness critics?

[originalpckelly]

Yesterday, I posted a story from the USA Today newspaper titled, "Feds sharpen secret tools for data mining." This story suggests that the Bush administration is breaking the law by continuing the Total Information Awareness program originally developed by DARPA's Information Awareness Office. It does appear that is correct, at least to some extent. The story says that there have been four programs created since the passage of the law that ended TIA. This is illegal because the law could not have secretly authorized unknown future programs in the secret Defense Department Annex that accompanied the appropriations bill with the prohibition of TIA in it.

It is also possible, however, that the Congress allowed some of the most controversial subcomponent technologies in TIA to go forward by creating an exemption for them in the secret Defense Department Annex. In other words, it is actually possible that Congress specifically passed a pointless law, simply to quiet critics of the TIA program.

The article says that a Teradata system capable of storing and searching through 4 million gigabytes of information is still operational. For those out there keeping score, that is enough storage to maintain 13 megabytes of data on each and every American, and 13 megabytes is enough to hold thirteen LARGE books. The executive of Teradata spoke with USA Today, and indicated the systems his company sells are capable of working with financial transactions.

A Bush administration spokesperson claimed that this database system was legalized by the exemptions in the secret Defense Department Annex. If this is true, Congress passed a law that on the surface appeared to outlaw Orwellian surveillance, but secretly allowed the surveillance to continue. This may not be illegal, but it is certainly a violation of the public trust.

On the other hand if the spokesperson is incorrect, the President is involved in an Iran-Contra type affair, which is extremely ironic because the head of the Information Awareness Office was John Poindexter who was convicted for involvement in the scandal. (These convictions were later overturned for technical reasons.)

Take your pick of scandals because there is a big one brewing, even though this story from USA Today flew under the radar of the MSM.

I suggest people contact their Senators and Representatives in Congress and tell them about the USA Today story, which may be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2006-07-19-data-mining_x.htm

This may be the only way to get Congress to know about this program, if they didn't already.

Here is more information on the Information Awareness Office and the Total Information Awareness program:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office

Here is the law that supposedly prohibited funds from being spent on TIA or any other successor programs:

Public Law No. 108-087, Sec. 8131.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of
the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other
Act may be obligated for the Terrorism Information Awareness Program:
Provided, That this limitation shall not apply to the program hereby
authorized for Processing, analysis, and collaboration tools for
counterterrorism foreign intelligence, as described in the Classified
Annex accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004,
for which funds are expressly provided in the National Foreign
Intelligence Program for counterterrorism foreign intelligence purposes.
(b) None of the funds provided for Processing, analysis, and
collaboration tools for counterterrorism foreign intelligence shall be
available for deployment or implementation except for:
(1) lawful military operations of the United States
conducted outside the United States; or
(2) lawful foreign intelligence activities conducted wholly
overseas, or wholly against non-United States citizens.

(c) In this section, the term ``Terrorism Information Awareness
Program'' means the program known either as Terrorism Information
Awareness or Total Information Awareness, or any successor program,
funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or any other
Department or element of the Federal Government, including the
individual components of such Program developed by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency.

Source:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ087.108

[originalpckelly]

1. Here is a statement from President Bush that appears to be contradicted...

by the revelation of a 4 million megabyte database:
"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060511-1.html

That statement is shades of, "We did not—repeat, did not—trade weapons or anything else for hostages, nor will we..."

[originalpckelly]

2. Here is a link to more info on Iran-Contra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra

[formercia]

8. "Lies work"

George Herbert Walker Bush 1992

[rodeodance]

3. yes, I agree, Pass this around--congresscritters--let them know you know.

[originalpckelly]

5. That is only if...

the Bush administration spokesperson ISN'T lying. I admit that is like wondering if the sky is blue, but still. I think it is a distinct possibility the slimy little weasels pulled this bs. Sounds like something Congress would do.

[formercia]

4. It specifically states:

(b) None of the funds provided for Processing, analysis, and
collaboration tools for counterterrorism foreign intelligence shall be
available for deployment or implementation except for:
(1) lawful military operations of the United States
conducted outside the United States; or
(2) lawful foreign intelligence activities conducted wholly
overseas, or wholly against non-United States citizens.


It seems that provision may have been violated already.

[originalpckelly]

6. GOOD JOB!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!

That is a law PASSED AFTER THE AUMF!!!!!!!!!!! That is what the Bush administration is using to legally justify the NSA surveillance program.

[formercia]

9. "wholly against non-United States citizens."

meaning: Both parties of a conversation or communication must be non-US citizens.

[chill_wind]

7. I'm glad you are not letting go of this, OP!

And here is more from Shane Harris (National Journal)

He was writing about this months ago. So it's been out there, pingng around, but it hasn't gotten nearly the full frontal coverage it deserves.I'm glad you are not letting this go.

NSA spy program hinges on state-of-the-art technology

January 20, 2006
By Shane Harris, National Journal
(...)

When Congress eliminated funding for most of Poindexter's projects, a number of them (the exact number is classified) were transferred to intelligence agencies. Armour and others associated with TIA would not disclose the names of those agencies, but a former Army intelligence analyst also involved in data mining and counter-terrorism confirms that TIA tools were transferred to other agencies, where work on them continues to this day.

Asked whether data-mining programs, such as NIMD, that the NSA may still be pursuing would be useful for analyzing large amounts of phone and e-mail traffic, Armour said, "Absolutely. That's, in fact, what the interest is." The former No. 2 official in Poindexter's office, Robert Popp, said that he and his colleagues wanted to know whether intercepted phone calls and e-mail would help find terrorists but not ensnare innocent people. "We didn't know," Popp said. "That was the hypothesis. That was the question that Poindexter and I wanted to do research on, to be better able to understand."

The similarities between TIA and the NSA's current data-mining operations were enough to prompt one senior lawmaker to signal his discomfort in a letter to Vice President Cheney. Sen. Jay Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was briefed by Cheney, Hayden, and then-Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet in July 2003.

"As I reflected on the meeting today," Rockefeller wrote, "John Poindexter's TIA project sprung to mind, exacerbating my concern regarding the direction the administration is moving with regard to security, technology, and surveillance."

(...)

much more:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0106/012006nj1.htm

see also

Controversial counter-terror program lives on
By Shane Harris, National Journal
February 23, 2006

A controversial counter-terrorism program, which lawmakers halted more than two years ago amid outcries from privacy advocates, was stopped in name only and has quietly continued within the intelligence agency now fending off charges that it has violated the privacy of U.S. citizens.

Research under the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness program -- which developed technologies to predict terrorist attacks by mining government databases and the personal records of people in the United States -- was moved from the Pentagon's research-and-development agency to another group, which builds technologies primarily for the National Security Agency, according to documents obtained by National Journal and to intelligence sources familiar with the move.

full article: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0206/022306sh1.htm

The Bush admin NSA spy scandal goes wide and deep.

It is no wonder they are fighting its full disclosure with all glistening fangs bared and want to hang them some treasonous journalists from the NYT to shut them up. Shut them up! Shut them up!