The Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) Pilot Project
Abstract
This report provides an overview of the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) pilot project, which leverages advanced computer/information management capabilities to more quickly access, share, and analyze public records to help law enforcement generate leads, expedite investigations, and possibly prevent terrorist attacks. The pilot project is intended to demonstrate the effective use of such capabilities, but it is less clear whether the project has been designed to prevent unnecessary intrusions on privacy. The MATRIX pilot project is being administered by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Project security and access to the MATRIX system is managed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The project is being funded by the DHS Office of Domestic Preparedness ($8 million) and the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance ($4 million). Privacy advocates, civil libertarians, and others oppose MATRIX and similar systems for fear that unrestricted data mining could lead to a massive invasion of privacy, as such systems could enable governments to scrutinize the lives and activities of ordinary citizens. Advocates for the MATRIX pilot project counter that this system allows authorized investigators to share and analyze information that is already available to law enforcement from public and state-owned data, without a subpoena or court order. They contend that, with MATRIX, limited investigative information can be developed to generate potential leads within seconds, as opposed to taking days or weeks to manually track and acquire the same information.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 18, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA469075
Entities
People
- William J. Krouse
Organizations
- Library of Congress