Data Mining Proponents Defend Technology

Three federal agencies—the Pentagons Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Transportation Security Administration, and the FBI—are developing new data analysis systems. The systems are slated to move beyond the tactics of traditional data mining, typically used for marketing purposes, to more targeted approaches. Nonetheless, they are built on the cornerstone of detecting patterns and relationships in huge volumes of data.

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Critics of data mining suggest that while the technology is guaranteed to invade personal privacy, it is not so certain to enhance national security. Terrorists do not operate under discernable patterns, they contend, and therefore the technology will likely be targeted primarily at innocent people.

Tuesday, the House subcommittee on technology and information policy, heard from three federal proponents of the technology to consider whether it enhances national security. Civil liberties activists are urging Congress to increase its role in overseeing the governments use of such technologies.

By the summer of 2004, airport lines will be shorter and decisions as to which passengers get pulled out for extra screening will seem less arbitrary, according to James Loy, TSA administrator. New prescreening technologies under development will create a more standardized risk assessment program, Loy said in written testimony to the subcommittee Tuesday.

Airlines today use TSAs Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening program to determine which passengers must undergo enhanced screening before boarding a plane, and the agency is developing CAPPS II, which will be more effective at identifying high-risk passengers, Loy said in his testimony.