[Infowarrior] - Investigation of DHS ADVISE data mining program ordered

[Richard Forno]

Investigation of ADVISE data mining program ordered
By Michael Hampton
Posted: October 3, 2006 10:48 pm
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A Homeland Security data-mining program which will crawl the Internet
looking for potential threats to the country has come under Congressional
scrutiny for a lack of privacy protection, cost controls and program
guidelines.

Members of the House Appropriations Committee and House Homeland Security
Appropriations Subcomittee have directed the Homeland Security Inspector
General to investigate the Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight
and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE) program, one of twelve data mining
programs currently in use or under development by Homeland Security.

ADVISE is a ³technology framework² which can integrate information and facts
from many different types and sources of data and can be tailored to
specific areas of interest. In its prototype stage, it will ³incorporate
chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threat and
effects data,² according to an Inspector General¹s report (PDF) released
last month.

Its purpose, officials have said, is to ³connect the dots² and prevent
another intelligence failure.

ADVISE can incorporate and analyze large amounts of open source data, such
as the content of Internet sites and databases, which has raised privacy
concerns. The system could easily be targeted to answer such questions as
who might be likely to be associated with anti-war groups or other
legitimate political activities.

    ³A prototype is currently available to analysts in [the Homeland
Security] Intelligence and Analysis [unit] using departmental and other
data, including some on U.S. citizens,² lawmakers wrote. ³The ADVISE program
plan, total costs and privacy impacts are unclear and therefore the
conferees direct the inspector general to conduct a comprehensive program
review and report within nine months of enactment of this act.²

    The department has spent about $40 million on the project, lawmakers
added.

    Critics fear that ADVISE might intrude on the privacy rights of U.S.
citizens, especially by trolling their e-mails and blogs. House
Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., and Homeland Security
Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., asked
the Government Accountability Office earlier this year to investigate the
program.

    ³We¹ve been long concerned about how the department treats Americans¹
privacy and due process rights,² Sabo said during a May markup of the
Homeland Security spending bill. ³ADVISE appears to be a new variation on
the highly controversial Defense Department Total Information Awareness
program that was supposed to be terminated in 2003.² ‹ CongressDaily

In related news, Homeland Security has issued a grant to several U.S.
universities to develop a natural language processing system which would
allow it to monitor negative opinions of the U.S. in overseas publications.
Backers swear up and down the system would never be turned inward to monitor
U.S. news organizations and Web sites, because that¹s not permitted by law.
Critics call it ³creepy and Orwellian.²

    Ultimately, the government could in a semiautomated way track a
statement by specific individuals abroad or track reports by particular
foreign news outlets or journalists, rating comments about American policies
or officials.

    Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center in Washington, said the effort recalled the aborted 2002 push by a
Defense Department agency to develop a tracking system called Total
Information Awareness that was intended to detect terrorists by analyzing
troves of information.

    ³That is really chilling,² Mr. Rotenberg said. ³And it seems far afield
from the mission of homeland security.² ‹ New York Times

The three-year, $2.4 million research grant will develop software intended
to identify negative sentiment toward the U.S., which officials said may
indicate a potential threat.

You heard right. Having a negative opinion about a U.S. policy means you are
a potential terrorist.