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Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement
The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity.
The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy.
"We don't realize that, as we live our lives and make little choices, like buying groceries, buying on Amazon, Googling, we're leaving traces everywhere," says Lee Tien, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We have an attitude that no one will connect all those dots. But these programs are about connecting those dots - analyzing and aggregating them - in a way that we haven't thought about. It's one of the underlying fundamental issues we have yet to come to grips with."
The core of this effort is a little-known system called Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE). Only a few public documents mention it. ADVISE is a research and development program within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), part of its three-year-old "Threat and Vulnerability, Testing and Assessment" portfolio. The TVTA received nearly $50 million in federal funding this year.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0209/p01s02-uspo.html?s=hns
Comments
I find the whole idea of snooping repugnant.
There is much more information to be observed and analysed in the public domain.
Blogs and public messages boards - fair enough!
That's what used to happen with police on the beat, politicians who met with people rather than lobbyists, and leaders who listened to those who want to speak with them.
When the security authorities sense a real need for tapping, they can get the authority from the courts. Snooping on everyone for a one in a million chance that you'll detect the baddie who's sending emails about some dastardly plot is simply Big Brother. We rejected that years ago. We rejected it when Saddam did those things, AND 911 doesn't justify throwing out those values.
Grabbing bodies and rendering them out of sight as a result of connecting dots is simply prone to error and abuse.
Snooping is all about power and does little for security.
It probably leads to greater security risks in the long run than having an open government which respects privacy.
Spin