-------- Original Message -------- Subject: DHS chief floats idea of collecting private citizens'information Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 18:00:43 Declan: Maybe the Markle Foundation will take on the role of nonprofit homeland security surveillance snitch . . . . Anon. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042905nj1.htm DHS chief floats idea of collecting private citizens' information By Siobhan Gorman, National Journal Call it Total Information Awareness, homeland-style. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff this week floated an idea to start a nonprofit group that would collect information on private citizens, flag suspicious activity, and send names of suspicious people to his department. The idea, which Chertoff tossed out at an April 27 meeting with security-industry officials, is reminiscent of the Defense Department's now-dead Total Information Awareness program that sought to sift though heaps of foreign intelligence information to root out potential terrorist activity. According to one techie who attended the April 27 meeting, Chertoff told the group, "Maybe we can create a nonprofit and track people's activities, and an algorithm could red-flag individuals. Then, the nonprofit could give us the names." [...] _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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