to Senators Lott & Daschle
Total Information Awareness
November 18, 2002
Senator Tom Daschle
SH-509
Washington, DC 20510
Senator Trent Lott
SR-487
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators Daschle and Lott:
We write to you as a nonpartisan coalition of organizations from across the country to urge you to adopt an amendment to the pending Homeland Security Act that would stop further development of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) system called “Total Information Awareness” (TIA).
According to DARPA’s own documents, TIA will collect and mine vast amounts of information on the American public, including telephone records, bank records, medical records, and educational and travel data. TIA also proposes to connect with a massive system of biometric identification.
There are no systems of oversight or accountability contemplated in the TIA project. DARPA itself has resisted lawful requests for information about the program pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
Newspapers across the country have blasted the Department of Defense surveillance system. The New York Times said today that “Congress should shut down the program pending a thorough investigation.” Earlier the Washington Post wrote, “the defense secretary should appoint an outside committee to oversee it before it proceeds.”
We urge you to act immediately to stop the development of this unconstitutional system of public surveillance.
Sincerely,
| Marc Rotenberg Executive Director Electronic Privacy Information Center |
Chris Hoofnagle Legislative Counsel Electronic Privacy Information Center |
| Lisa Dean Director Center for Technology Policy Free Congress Foundation |
Ken McEldowney Executive Director Consumer Action |
| James Landrith Editor & Publisher The Multiracial Activist |
Nihad Awad Executive Director Council on American-Islamic Relations |
| Kit Gage Director First Amendment Foundation Director National Committee Against Repressive Legislation |
Kathryn Serkes President Square One Media Network |
| Beth Givens Director Privacy Rights Clearinghouse |
Steven Aftergood Senior Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists |
| Remar Sutton Coordinator Privacy Rights Now Coalition |
J.C. Pierce Director Consumer Task Force For Automotive Issues |
| Lee Tien Senior Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation |
Michael Shames Executive Director Utility Consumers’ Action Network |
| Jane M. Orient M.D. Executive Director Association of American Physicians & Surgeons |
David A. Wallace Assistant Professor School of Information University of Michigan |
| Katie Corrigan Legislative Counsel American Civil Liberties Union |
Manon Ress Research Associate Consumer Project of Technology |
| Lynne Bradley Deputy Director Office of Government Relations American Library Association Washington Office |
Kelly Garrett Doctoral Student School of Information University of Michigan |
| Dr. Charles N. Davis Executive Director Kathleen Edwards Center Manager Kristin Birks Web Manager Jennifer M. Schmidt Financial Manager Freedom of Information Center |
Michael D. Cohen William D. Hamilton Professor of Complex Systems, Information, and Public Policy School of Information University of Michigan |
| Kathy Williams Managing editor Herald Democrat (Sherman-Denison, Texas) |
Margaret Fung Executive Director Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund |
| Prudence S. Adler Associate Executive Director Association of Research Libraries |
Stephanie Krueger-Blum University of Michigan |
| Hannah Chua Graduate Student University of Michigan |
Coralee Whitcomb President Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility |
| Robert L. Oakley Washington Affairs Representative American Association of Law Libraries |
Phyllis Schlafly President Eagle Forum |
| George Getz Communications Director Libertarian Party |
Evan Hendricks Editor and Publisher Privacy Times |
| Dawn Richardson President Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education |
Michael Arnold Glueck MD Syndicated Columnist The Medicine Men Column |
| Danielle Brian Executive Director Project On Government Oversight |
Audrie Krause Executive Director NetAction |
| Jean AbiNader Managing Director Arab American Institute |
Richard Sobel Cyber Privacy Project |
| Mary Day Kent Executive Director Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section |
Michael Scott Center for Economic and Social Rights |
| Tom DeWeese President American Policy Center |
Jason Catlett President Junkbusters Corp. |
| Jeff Chester Executive Director Center for Digital Democracy |
Linda Foley Executive Director Identity Theft Resource Center |
| Maggie Bierwirth Senior Legislative Counsel People For the American Way |
Deborah Pierce Executive Director PrivacyActivism |
| J. Bradley Jansen Adjunct Scholar Competitive Enterprise Institute |
Richard M. Smith Internet Security and Privacy Consultant |
| James Plummer Policy Analyst Consumer Alert |
Robert Bulmash President Private Citizen, Inc. |
| Sharifa Alkhateeb President The North American Council for Muslim Women |
Susan K. Martin, Ph.D. Program Officer for Scholarly Communication Association of College and Research Libraries |
| Carole Doeppers Privacy Consultant |