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Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange

Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange

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Encyclopedia
The Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange Program, also known by the acronym "MATRIX", was a federally funded data mining system originally developed for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is a Florida government agency. The department is charged with overseeing state law enforcement agencies....

 described as a tool to identify terrorist subjects.

The system was reported to analyze government and commercial databases to find associations between suspects or to discover locations of or completely new "suspects". The database and technologies used in the system were housed by Seisint, a Florida-based company since acquired by Lexis Nexis.

The Matrix program was shut down in June 2005 after federal funding was cut in the wake of public concerns over privacy and state surveillance.

History


Matrix was the brain child of Hank Asher
Hank Asher
Hank Asher is a businessman with a reported fortune of around US$500 million earned as the founder of several data mining companies that compile personal information about individuals from different electronic databases....

 a serial businessman in the data aggregation field. Asher reportedly contacted Florida police immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks claiming he could find the hijackers as well as other potential terrorists. . Asher reportedly offered to make available the database and technology that could do the job quickly, for free, supplied by the company he owned and operated, Seisint.

Control of the system was handed over to law enforcement officials, although Seisint continued to house and operate it on their behalf. After a demonstration of the system at the White House in January 2003 Matrix received US$4 million in grants from the Justice Department and the program was earmarked US$8 million by Homeland Security.

The program snowballed, as states signed up to participate including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Ohio and Utah. California and Texas joined then exited the program citing privacy and security concerns. The federal government and the CIA was cited as likely future users.

The program's similarity to the Total Information Awareness
Information Awareness Office
The Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying information technology to counter asymmetric threats to national security...

 (TIA) federally funded initiative that was terminated following public concerns contributed to Matrix's demise. Matrix came under scrutiny by the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union consists of two separate non-profit organizations: the ACLU Foundation, a 501 organization which focuses on litigation and communication efforts, and the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501 organization which focuses on legislative lobbying...

 (ACLU) which made Freedom of Information Act requests in Florida, where the program originated, and to the federal government on 30 October 2003. The ACLU followed this up with simultaneous information requests in Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania for information about those states' participation in Matrix.

The ACLU's requests sought to find out the information sources that Matrix was drawing upon, who had access to the database and how it is being used. As well as the funding and operational described here, the ACLU's requests revealed that the Matrix would perform an almost identical function to the banned TIA. Matrix would bind together government and commercial databases to allow federal and state law enforcement entities to conduct detailed searches on individuals.

Public revelation of the projects funding caused an uproar in the media and states began withdrawing their support. The Matrix program was finally shut down in June 2005 after federal funding was cut in the wake of public concerns over privacy and state surveillance.

Seisint retained the technology used to operate Matrix. Both Seisint and its Matrix technology are now owned by Lexis Nexis

Function


The Matrix website stated that the data would include criminal histories, driver's license data, vehicle registration records, and public data record entries. Other data was thought to include credit histories, driver's license photographs, marriage and divorce records, social security numbers, dates of birth, and the names and addresses of family members, neighbors and business associates. The ACLU pointed out that the type of data that the Matrix compiles could be expanded to include information in commercial databases encompasses such as purchasing habits, magazine subscriptions, income and job histories.

Matrix would combine these government records and information from commercial databases in a data warehouse
Data warehouse
Data warehouse is a repository of an organization's electronically stored data. Data warehouses are designed to facilitate reporting and analysis....

. Dossiers would be reviewed by specialized software to identify anomalies using 'mathematical analysis.' When anomalies are spotted, they would be scrutinized by personnel who would search for evidence of terrorism or other crimes.

Like the TIA, Matrix would use data mining
Data mining
Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from data. As more data are gathered, with the amount of data doubling every three years, data mining is becoming an increasingly important tool to transform these data into information...

 where searches for patterns in this data (including the 'anomalies') would be used to identify individuals possibly involved in terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...

 or other criminal activity. Congressional critic Paula B. Dockery pointed out that like the TIA, this kind of 'data mining' may be ineffective, and have severe downsides, including its privacy costs.

Data from Matrix would be transferred through the Regional Information Sharing Systems network , an existing secure law enforcement network used to transmit sensitive information among law enforcement agencies. The network was linked to High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, United States Attorneys' Offices, other federal agencies and several state law enforcement systems..

See also

  • Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II
    Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II
    The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System was a program of the United States Department of Homeland Security instituted to increase security at airports by assessing the risk level of passengers before they're allowed to board...

  • Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force
  • USA PATRIOT Act
    USA PATRIOT Act
    The USA PATRIOT Act, commonly known as the "Patriot Act", is a statute enacted by the United States Government that President George W. Bush signed into law on October 26, 2001...

  • Terrorist Screening Center
    Terrorist Screening Center
    The Terrorist Screening Center is an FBI organization for identifying suspected or potential terrorists.It maintains a database, the Terrorist Screening Database , the aim of which is to contain information about all known or suspected terrorists, and makes this information available to a number of...

  • Terrorist Threat Integration System
  • Total Information Awareness
    Information Awareness Office
    The Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying information technology to counter asymmetric threats to national security...

  • Mass surveillance
    Mass surveillance
    Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof.Modern governments today commonly perform mass surveillance of their citizens, explaining that they believe that it is necessary to protect them from dangerous groups such as terrorists,...

  • Traffic Violations Reciprocity
    Traffic Violations Reciprocity
    Under traffic violations reciprocity agreements, non-resident drivers are treated like residents when they are stopped for a traffic offense that occurs in another jurisdiction. They also ensure that punishments such as "points" on one's license and the ensuring increase in insurance premiums...

     and Driver License Agreement
    Driver License Agreement
    In the USA, the Driver License Agreement is a new interstate compact written by the Joint Executive Board of the Driver License Compact and the Non-Resident Violator Compact with staff support provided by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators...


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