Newly Declassified FBI Docs Reveal Predictive Data System

An anonymous reader writes 'Newly declassified documents show that the FBI is developing a data-mining system to uncover terror sleeper cells. Among the 1.6 billion records in the National Security Analysis Center — tens of thousands of travel records, including hotel and airline records. Other revelations in the documents uncovered by a Wired.com FOIA request show that the feds want to expand the system for use in cyber-crime investigations, and it's already been used to scrutinize helicopter pilots and Philly cab drivers. The system has eerie resemblances to DARPA's once-banned Total Information Awareness program."

Re:Give up?

[TheBilgeRat]

amen. as a federal sector person myself, I honestly am amazed that any branch of the government functions at all. Fraud, waste and abuse are at every level-mostly due to the bureaucracy. They'll shove that data into some database, build a "new and improved" proprietary frontend for Oracle (check that-they'll contract it out, take the "lowest" bid, and spend the next five years patching it into oblivion), and browbeat the probies rounded up to operate it when all it can produce is that Americans buy lots of beer and that Hoover was a cross-dresser.

not that I'm a bitter federal employee managing a POS database or anything...

Re:Wow, What a Shock...

[blackraven14250]

The FBI needs to duplicate the effort because of the culture of the FBI. They kinda have the mentality that they're at war with the other intelligence agencies, which keeps them from cooperating with nearly anyone. It's a holdover from Hoover's days.

Re:I've got an idea

[Jurily]

When have you heard about a political speech and reality having any connection?

Oooh, I have one! It even has its own article in Wikipedia [wikipedia.org].

Re:I've got an idea

[Marcika]

When have you heard about a political speech and reality having any connection?

Oooh, I have one! It even has its own article in Wikipedia [wikipedia.org].

Fixed that for you... (And yes, someone ought to tell the Slashcode monkeys that 7-bit ASCII is only sufficient for 5% of the world's population...)

RAW

[Ozlanthos]

Although I am sure many have said it, for me the most memorable instance of it was by Robert Anton Wilson: "Government organizations never die, they simply change names".

-Oz

Re:Give up?

[sgt_doom]

From the effing article:

"It's unclear how the FBI got the records."

Geez, TIA has been in operation for some time now: all those gazillion government contractors supplying realtime data (from First Data to the clowns who operate the toll booth cameras to the Pay-for-view Viacom, etc., etc., etc.) with SAIC being the number one intel contractor, Mantech, etc., and who does the background checks for the federal government? Pearson Govt. Svcs. owned by Veritas Capital, the folks who used to own DynCorp, with the remainder done by XE (formerly Blackwater), and USIS (Carlyle Group).

Re:I've got an idea

[Tubal-Cain]

Japanese [wikipedia.org]