Not The Q Factor You Want - Are You On List of 120,000?

[KRL]

Now this IS BIG BROTHER gone wrong.



NEW YORK - Before helping to launch the criminal information project known as Matrix, a database contractor gave U.S. and Florida authorities the names of 120,000 people who showed a statistical likelihood of being terrorists ? sparking some investigations and arrests.

Seisint and the law enforcement officials who oversee Matrix insist that the terrorism scoring system ultimately was kept out of the project, largely because of privacy concerns.

However, new details about Seisint's development of the "terrorism quotient," including the revelation that authorities apparently acted on the list of 120,000, are renewing privacy activists' suspicions about Matrix's potential power.

Matrix ? short for Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange ? combines state records and data culled by Seisint to give investigators fast access to information on crime and terrorism suspects. It was launched in 2002.

Because the system includes information on people with no criminal record as well as known criminals, Matrix has drawn objections from liberal and conservative privacy groups. Utah and at least eight other states have pulled out, leaving Florida, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The scoring incorporated such factors as age, gender, ethnicity, credit history, "investigational data," information about pilot and driver licenses, and connections to "dirty" addresses known to have been used by other suspects.

According to Seisint's presentation, dated January 2003 and marked confidential, the 120,000 names with the highest scores were given to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, FBI, Secret Service and Florida state police. (Later, those agencies would help craft the software that queries Matrix.)

Of the people with the 80 highest scores, five were among the Sept. 11 hijackers, Seisint's presentation said. Forty-five were identified as being or possibly being under existing investigations, while 30 others "were unknown to FBI."

"Investigations were triggered and arrests were made by INS and other agencies," the presentation added. Two bullet points stated: "Several arrests within one week" and "Scores of other arrests." It does not provide details of when and where the investigations and arrests took place.

[crockett]

What is the Matrix?

[cluck]

I want my damn tax money back. I overpaid cause I'm lazy anyway.

[KRL]

Originally posted by crockett
What is the Matrix?

It was created by a computer wiz in Florida. He wrote a database program that can access virtually every financial, federal, state, local, government, school, bank, crimes, etc. database in the country instantaneously so when law enforcement does a query on someone it provides a total and comprehensive book sized profile of every known fact about that person. And I mean everything. From the time of your birth to your present life currently. Every single fact from A to Z.

Its the most intrusive system ever created.

[mrgica]

Originally posted by KRL
It was created by a computer wiz in Florida. He wrote a database program that can access virtually every financial, federal, state, local, government, school, bank, crimes, etc. database in the country instantaneously so when law enforcement does a query on someone it provides a total and comprehensive book sized profile of every known fact about that person. And I mean everything. From the time of your birth to your present life currently. Every single fact from A to Z.

Its the most intrusive system ever created.

Is this new? I thought FBI had that already in the 90's

[KRL]

Originally posted by mrgica
Is this new? I thought FBI had that already in the 90's

Yes. The guy who invented lives closeby. Its the ultimate search engine for law enforcement.

Its so powerful even some law enforcement agencies have backed out from using it once they saw it in action out of fear that anyone who would be authorized to use it would be able to get so much info on someone it would be a security and liability threat in their departments.

[nap]

was he contracted by the government to create a program like this or did he just come up with an idea and sale it to the highest bidder?

[AlienQ - BANNED FOR LIFE]

Fun.

[Brujah]

Seisint Inc., is a Boca Raton, Fla., company founded by a millionaire, Hank Asher, who stepped down from its board of directors last year after revelations of past ties to drug smugglers.