US Plans Massive Data Sweep (ADVISE system)

[Triana]

I JUST got this link in a tech newsletter I subscribe to, but the article is part of CSM's Feb 9th edition. I submit it for DUers, nonetheless, as it is SHOCKING what data the NSA/DHS/Nazi bu$hit regime is vacuuming up on us and how. I searched and didn't see this posted yet so sorry if it's a duplicate. Do SIT DOWN before you read this. It'll make ya hurl your dinner You've been warned...:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0209/p01s02-uspo.html

US plans massive data sweep

Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far?
By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

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.

(edited for clarification)