The 21st Century Panopticon?
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| *Mike German ACLU | *Mike German ACLU | ||
| *Stuart S. Shapiro, MITRE | *Stuart S. Shapiro, MITRE | ||
| - | *Christopher Sophoian, EPIC Technology Policy Fellow | + | *Christopher Soghoian, EPIC Technology Policy Fellow |
| *John Verdi EPIC | *John Verdi EPIC | ||
Revision as of 19:32, 12 May 2008
Panel Summary
This plenary will discuss an inter-networked communication infrastructure that could facilitate the creation of a modern surveillance society. The name given to the criminal justice/national security project is âinformation fusion centers.â Fusion centers are an amalgamation of commercial and public sector data for the purpose of optimizing the collection, analysis, and sharing of personal information. The Department of Homeland Securityâs $380 million in funding has created over 40 information fusion centers in the United States.
Plenary Panel Participants
Lillie Coney (Moderator)
- Johnny Barnes ACLU-National Capital Area
- Mike German ACLU
- Stuart S. Shapiro, MITRE
- Christopher Soghoian, EPIC Technology Policy Fellow
- John Verdi EPIC
Detailed Description
In December 2004, the push for a national Fusion Center initiative received a boost when the Department of Justice sponsored Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group published âA Framework for Justice Information Sharing: Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).â In August 2005, the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative of the Department of Justice published the Fusion Center Guidelines.
Turning Fusion Centers into Hardware and Software
The Fusion Center Guidelines endorses the use of the new database sharing capability created by the open source programming language known as the Extensible Markup Language (XML) standards. This programming language allows the identification of fields of information through the use of a translation feature that accomplishes its task between the system being asked for information, and the end requester. In this process the source of the data and the recipient do not need to change their computer networks to participate in the information exchange network.
Fusion Center Data Sources
The data sought by fusion centers includes: financial records; criminal and non-criminal justice system records, tribal, local, state, federal, private, and university law enforcement records, education records (day cares, preschools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and technical schools); government issued licenses and permits, medical records (public health, ambulance, hospitals, mental health, clinics, and primary care physician medical files), hospitality and lodging, gaming industry, telecommunication providers, military and defense records; US Post Offices, postal and shipping services, private security (alarm companies, armored car companies, investigative firms, corporate security offices, private security companies); public works; social services; and transportation.
The intelligence and analysis of information will be based on the needs of fusion center participants. The âfour major desired outcomesâ for fusion centers are: the reduction of the incident of crime; suppression of criminal activity; the regulation of non-criminal conduct; the provision of services.
Privacy and Civil Liberties and Fusion Centers
There are questions about the focus on privacy and civil liberties considerations within the development of the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative and Department of Homeland Security, Fusion Center Guidelines. âThe project team should have access to subject-matter experts in areas of privacy law and technical systems design and operations, as well as skilled writers, but these individuals do not necessarily have to be team members.â
A Law Enforcement Assistance and Partnership Strategy report published by the minority staff of the 109th House Committee on Homeland Security, which included this effort at melding the role of law enforcement and private sector roles, âChief Ellen Hanson of the City of Lenexa, Kansas Police Department recounts:
Local efforts to inform the public are an effective way to stay on top of information regarding possible terrorist activity. Here in Lenexa we have incorporated this element into our Crime Resistant Community Policing Program. We conduct regular trainings with the maintenance and rental staffs of apartment complexes, motels, and storage facilities. We show them how to spot and identify things like printed terrorist materials and propaganda and unique weapons of mass destruction like suicide bomb vests and briefcases.
