IP: PPI Advocates Greater Use of IT to Fight Terrorism

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

>  Tech Law Journal Daily E-Mail Alert
>  January 21, 2002, 9:00 AM ET, Alert No. 350.
>
>                   PPI Advocates Greater Use of IT to Fight Terrorism
>                   1/18. The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released two
> papers that call on government to increase the use of information technology
> to prevent terrorist attacks, and to facilitate coordination between local,
> state, and national law enforcement authorities. The two papers are Using
> Technology to Detect and Prevent Terrrorism [PDF], by Shane Ham and Robert
> Atkinson, and The State and Local Role in Domestic Defense [PDF], by John
> Cohen and John Hurson.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Ham and Atkinson argue in their paper that "The
> information technology revolution that transformed our economy has also
> given us the tools, infrastructure, and commercial capabilities to make
> domestic defense easier, less expensive, and more effective, making all
> Americans safer."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   The Ham Atkinson paper continues that "Technology has
> revolutionized the economy with dramatic productivity improvements and an
> array of new communications and information processing tools. We must bring
> that same revolution to domestic defense, to gain maximum security and
> public confidence with minimum investment. The IT revolution has given us
> many tools -- wireless data networks, encryption, powerful miniature
> computer chips, the global Internet, data mining software, and many more --
> that weren't available for domestic security just a few years ago. Now that
> we have these tools, it is time to roll them out to make our nation safer."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Data Sharing. The paper recommends the use of "improved
> data sharing, combining criminal records and intelligence information from a
> variety of federal, state, and local agencies that can be accessed
> wirelessly to identify wanted criminals and suspected terrorists when they
> encounter law enforcement or attempt to enter secure facilities."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Digital Surveillance. The paper also calls for increased
> use of "digital surveillance, extending longstanding principles of law
> enforcement and surveillance to the Internet by permitting surveillance of
> email and other electronic data while preserving traditional safeguards on
> searches by government agents".
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   The paper continues that "The recent antiterrorism
> legislation signed by President Bush extended many of those surveillance
> techniques to their Internet counterparts, but unfortunately there is still
> a good deal of unjustified concern about the new technologies developed for
> law enforcement over the Internet."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Carnivore. The paper advocates the use of two recently
> developed tools, DCS 1000, which is also known as Carnivore, and Magic
> Lantern. It describes DCS 1000 as a "device ... installed, by court order,
> at Internet service providers to search email traffic. (Contrary to popular
> belief, the system does not search through the email of every customer
> looking for suspicious content.) By looking only for certain specific
> recipients or keywords in email sent by suspects, DCS 1000 saves time for
> agents by letting them focus their efforts on the e-mails that are most
> relevant, even though they would be entitled by court order to read all of
> the email that DCS 1000 searches." (Parentheses in original.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Magic Lantern. The paper states that "Magic Lantern and
> other ``key logging´´ programs allow agents with search warrants to record
> every keystroke on a targeted computer. Reading the keystrokes can give
> agents passwords, which are critical when criminals are using strong
> encryption for their data and communications."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   The Ham Atkinson paper concludes that "Without tools such
> as these, the old system of wiretapping is rendered all but useless --
> criminals will simply use Internet chats and encrypted e-mails rather than
> telephones."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Shane Ham and the other authors spoke at an event for the
> release of the two papers. He stated that "the fight over the USA PATRIOT
> Act is not over yet. We are going to be arguing about that for a long time."
> Robert Atkinson stated that "I think that the civil libertarian community is
> actively organizing opposition to virtually any sort of expansion or
> modernization of our law enforcement and intelligence system through
> technology. And, the way they are doing it is by preying upon fears, by
> using overblown rhetoric, like ``smart cards will turn America into a Nazi,
> show us your papers, police state´´. ... Privacy is not an absolute
> standard. We trade it off every single day when we have to show our drivers
> license at the airport ... we can deploy all of these technologies without
> really damaging or hurting privacy."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   The Ham Atkinson paper also recommends the use of smart ID
> cards "with biometric identifiers, adding chips containing thumbprint scans
> or other biometric data to driver’s licenses, as well as standardized
> security features for preventing forgery and fraud". The paper also
> recommends the use of smart visas and face recognition technologies.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Legislative Recommendations. The paper then calls upon
> Congress to assist in funding the deployment of these new technologies. It
> also states that "Congress should mandate that any standardization efforts
> by the state motor vehicle agencies include upgrading all ID cards to smart
> cards. In addition, Congress should provide matching grants to state
> agencies to deploy hardware that can read smart cards, and should fund pilot
> programs for states that seek to integrate multiple functions into the smart
> cards, such as voter registration. The paper urges passage of S 1749, the
> Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001, a smart visa
> bill. It also recommends that Congress boost funding to deploy technology
> hardware to border agents.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Atkinson also called for a Chief Information Officer for
> Homeland Defense, to see that new technologies are deployed quickly and
> efficiently.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Finally, Atkinson argued that there would be economic
> benefits. For example, he stated: "Those of you who followed the digital
> signatures act a few years ago in Congress -- it was passed with great
> whoopla -- that now all Americans would now be able to sign documents on
> line digitally. It hasn't happened. It won't happen. It won't happen until
> most Americans have a way to authenticate themselves on line through some
> sort of PKI system. If we were to give every American a smart card, a chip
> card, biometric, on their driver's license, overnight we would jump start
> this market place."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   Cohen and Hurson argue in their paper, The State and Local
> Role in Domestic Defense [PDF], that "we must redefine our concept of
> national security. We can no longer afford to think of national security as
> the sole province of the military, or even the federal government’s
> intelligence, law enforcement, and border control agencies. Keeping America
> safe from terrorists and responding when they elude our defenses is also the
> urgent task of state and local law enforcement and response agencies."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   They also argue that "our approach to domestic defense
> must be national and seamless. To this end, we must improve information
> sharing with our front line law enforcement officers ..."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>                   The PPI is a Washington DC based think tank affiliated
> with the Democratic Leadership Council, which is also known as the New
> Democrats. Robert Atkinson is VP of the PPI and Director of the PPI's
> Technology & New Economy Project. Shane Ham is a Senior Policy Analyst at
> PPI's Technology & New Economy Project. John Cohen is the Director of the
> PPI's Community Crime Fighting Project.

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