USACM Policy Brief

Total Information Awareness, recently renamed Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA), is a Defense Department effort to create a massive computer networking capability to search distributed networks for pieces of information related to a request with the aim of identifying terrorists prior to their commission of illegal acts. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is exploring the possibility of creating a computing system that could accomplish the task of quickly searching public and private databases for information on individuals. The project has been described by Defense Department officials to include search capabilities on citizens of the United States and in some reports the system would be used only for searches related to non-citizens.

While recognizing that research and development in data mining, fusion methods and privacy enhancing technologies are needed and welcomed, USACM raised concerns with the serious security, privacy, economic, and personal risks associated with the development of a system such as TIA. USACM noted that a thorough examination of the technical feasibility and practical reality of the entire program should be conducted and offered to assist in such a review.

In Fiscal Year 2003, Congress voted to restrict Pentagon spending on the TIA program by making funds conditional upon a full explanation of the program's plan and an assessment of its impact on civil liberties. Congress also limited the use of the TIA program to national security purposes, unless specifically authorized by Congress for other purposes. Congress continues to debate future funding for TIA and appropriate uses of the system during the Fiscal Year 2004 appropriations process.

USACM Activities

USACM Letter on TIA

Other Sources on TIA

CRS Report Funding, Composition and Oversight Issues

Department of Defense TIA Report to Congress. The official name of the program was changed from "Total Information Awareness Program" to the "Terroism Information Awareness Program."