Opposition grows to TIA. (Insider Report).(Total Information Awareness)(Brief Article)

A January 27th Associated Press report noted that growing concern over the Orwellian implications of the federal government's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program "has been a public-relations disaster for the Bush administration." The AP story, entitled "Hastert Raises Doubts on Surveillance," reported that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert raised doubts "about the fate of a Pentagon surveillance project after the Senate voted to ban the technology that mines government and commercial databases to identify potential terrorists." The story quoted a Hastert spokesman as saying that the fate of the TIA program "is questionable." The Senate vote mentioned above involved an amendment sponsored by Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to a $380 billion omnibus spending bill. Passed on a voice vote, the amendment does not actually ban the invasive TIA surveillance technology, but restricts its use inside the U.S. and requires the Defense Department to submit to Congress a detailed report on the program within 6 0 days of enacting the bill.

In a press statement, Sen. Wyden characterized the Pentagon's ...