Markle Foundation comment on NYT Article on DARPA's Information Awareness Office

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

I am a member of the Markle Task Force. Djf

------ Forwarded Message
From: Philip Zelikow <pdz6n () virginia edu>
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 22:14:39 -0500
To: dave () farber net

Dave ­

Appended below is the link to an article arguing that Admiral Poindexter¹s
office at DARPA is developing ideas for government data mining of private
sector databases.

The same office has also developed ideas encouraging government agencies to
do a better job of breaking down their internal barriers to sharing.  Its
general research efforts, including work on open source data, are mentioned
on p. 14 of the recent report, ³Protecting Freedom in the Information Age,²
of the Markle Foundation¹s Task Force on National Security in the
Information Age.  It can be found at www.markletaskforce.org
<http://www.markletaskforce.org/> .

Unfortunately the story is constructed in a way that may mislead readers
about the position of the Task Force.

The Times story, by John Markoff, cites fears about government data mining,
and then states:

³Other technology policy experts dispute that assessment and support Admiral
Poindexter¹s position that linking of databases is necessary to track
potential enemies operating inside the United States.  ŒThey¹re
conceptualizing the problem in the way we¹ve suggested it needs to be
understood,¹ said Philip Zelikow, a historian who is executive director of
the Markle Foundation task force on National Security in the Information
Age.  ŒThey have a pretty good vision of the need to make the tradeoffs in
favor of more sharing and openness.²

As you can tell from the quotation, I was quoted in a discussion about
sharing of government databases.  As those who have followed the 9/11 Joint
Inquiry have learned, the issue of sharing within the government is very
important.  But it is a very different issue from the problem of government
access to private databases, which was the earlier context of the story.
That word ³openness² in my quote was a pretty good giveaway that the context
was misaligned Š

The Task Force Report does discuss government data mining in commercial
databases.  It is not a sympathetic view.  At best we expressed a wary and
skeptical approach toward some of the more exotic proposals for government
data mining of private sector databases.  The relevant paragraph is on page
37 of the report.  We therefore advocated development of guidelines that
balance privacy and security even in the initial government procurement of
commericial databases, as well as in subsequent use of them ­ if any.

Philip Zelikow


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