"Data Expert Is Cautious About Misuse of Information" 
New York Times (03/25/03) P. C6; Lohr, Steve 

In-Q-Tel CEO Gilman Louie told PC Forum attendees on Monday that 
a proposal favored by some technology executives--one calling for 
a large database on citizens' activities that government officials 
would have unrestricted access to--is "very dangerous." 

Such an approach, known as data mining, would collate data on Americans 
and sort it by name, purchasing history, or travel itinerary in order 
to find suspicious patterns; anyone who is profiled as a suspect would 
be placed on a watch list. Although Louie acknowledged that data mining 
can be useful under certain circumstances, he believes that making it 
the chief information-based weapon in the war against terrorism is a 
mistake, one that would destabilize civil liberties.  

A much more acceptable strategy, in his opinion, is data analysis, 
in which software tools are employed to search for connections between 
investigative leads and known terrorists by studying places of residence, 
recent travel, and other behavior. One form of data analysis software 
is Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness (NORA), which Las Vegas casinos 
use to trace links between customers or even employees with known 
criminals.  

Louie said the failure to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks was not a lack 
of information, but the inability of various government agencies to 
pool their information resources. In-Q-Tel is a venture fund founded 
by the CIA as a springboard for new concepts, but Louie believes its
importance has grown in the aftermath of Sept. 11. "Now, this isn't 
an experiment," he stated. "This is a necessity."  

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/technology/25DATA.html

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Copyright 2003, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.

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Cheers, Steve..

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