IP: Do commercial firms have the data needed to fight terrorism?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 10:24:01 -0500
> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt () coil com>
>
>
>
> <http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0121/cov-data-01-21-02.asp>

Abstract from Copernic

The saga of Khalid S.S. Al-Draibi offers some cautionary insight into the 
power of technology in the war against terrorism.

Al-Draibi caught the attention of police as his aging Lincoln Town Car 
limped through Manassas Park, Va., on a flat tire in the dark last Sept. 11.

Cross-checks of his name, address and Social Security number revealed 10 
aliases and at least three Social Security numbers.

Further searches disclosed unpaid traffic fines and missed court dates, and 
the fact that he was wanted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

After Sept. 11, a LexisNexis risk management team donated its services to 
the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center in West Virginia, and the 
complaint center turned its attention from fraud to terrorism.

Using its SmartLinx system, LexisNexis combed databases and discovered 
Al-Draibi's multiple Social Security numbers and identities, and the fact 
that he lived in an apartment where six motor vehicles were registered.

LexisNexis highlighted its database detective work in publicity pitches for 
its SmartLinx services.

But what LexisNexis did not discover --- and the FBI subsequently did --- 
was that Al-Draibi was not involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

LexisNexis is just one of many companies touting its information technology 
as a critical new weapon in the war against terrorism.

That trend alarms privacy advocates, who worry that government agencies are 
already gathering too much personal information from commercial databases.

According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, federal law 
enforcement agencies have begun using commercial databases to circumvent 
the 1974 Privacy Act, which restricts government agencies from collecting 
such data on their own.

Officials at Acxiom, which now uses vast stores of consumer data to peddle 
credit cards, verify auto insurance applications and market the Democratic 
Party, say the same information could be used to screen airline passengers 
for suspected terrorists.

The other 13 entered the country legally with visas, but when three 
remained in the country after their visas expired, INS had no way of 
knowing they were still here.

INS Commissioner James Ziglar announced in December that the agency would 
add 314,000 names of foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas to 
the FBI's National Crime Information Center database.

The database situation is similarly grim at the State Department, according 
to Mike Hethmon, staff attorney at the Federation for American Immigration 
Reform.

ATA President Carol Hallett said aviation security officials should have 
access to such government data as arrest records, intelligence information, 
immigration and customs files and any other government data that might 
disclose information about airline passengers.


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