ACLU Questions Michigan State Police's Authority to Participate in MATRIX Data C

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Fri, 03 Mar 2006 15:56:15 +0000

Re: ACLU Questions Michigan State Police's Authority to

Participate in MATRIX Data Collection Without Oversight (5/20/2004)

 

 

 

--

" Fascism will come to this country and it will come disguised as

Americanism " ..........Governor Huey Long

 

" It is also in the interests of a tyrant to keep his people poor, so

that they may not be able to afford the cost of protecting themselves

by arms and be so occupied with their daily tasks that they have no

time for rebellion. " - Aristotle

 

" Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the

voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the

path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of

terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives

in fear. " - Harry S. Truman.

 

 

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http://www.aclu-co.org/spyfiles/criminalextremist.htm

 

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/spying/15235prs20040520.html

 

 

 

ACLU Questions Michigan State Police's Authority to Participate in

MATRIX Data Collection Without Oversight (5/20/2004)

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today

asked the state police to issue a formal ruling explaining why they

believe that their participation in the " Multi-State Anti-Terrorist

Information Exchange " (MATRIX), a controversial database surveillance

program, is not subject to a state law requiring legislative approval

of such activities.

 

Michigan's law - the Interstate Law Enforcement Intelligence

Organizations Act (ILEIO) -- requires that the state legislature

approve the state's participation in an interstate intelligence

organization and that a citizen oversight body supervise such

participation.

 

" We are asking the state police to explain why they believe that

they do not have to comply with this law, " said Kary Moss, Executive of the ACLU of Michigan. " We know that the state has provided

a number of databases to MATRIX, which is run by a private company,

and yet it remains unclear what data will be compiled, who else may

have access to it, or what standards would trigger the creation of a

dossier on an individual. "

 

The ILEIO Act (MCLA § 752.01) was enacted in 1980 after it was

learned that the Michigan police had compiled " Red Squad files " on

thousands of Michigan residents. The law was meant to prevent

unsupervised and uncontrolled access to information about individuals.

The " Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit " (LEIU), like MATRIX, had a

legitimate law enforcement function. However, LEIU also engaged in

political intelligence and collected information on non-criminal

activity of U.S. citizens.

 

The ACLU of Michigan has now filed three Freedom of Information

Act requests with both the state police and the Attorney General on

this subject. The national ACLU office has also filed FOIA requests

with the other states that are participating in MATRIX. Seisint Inc.,

a private, profit-making company in Florida that operates MATRIX, has

refused to disclose details of the program, according to news reports.

 

According to information revealed in the answers to the FOIAs,

Congressional testimony, and news reports, the MATRIX creates files on

individuals, using government databases and private-sector information

about individuals. Federal and state law enforcement officers can then

access those dossiers, at a cost. In addition, the MATRIX program

combs through millions of files in a search for " anomalies " on people

who have never committed a crime.

 

At this point, Michigan has provided information to MATRIX,

including credit histories, drivers' license photographs, marriage and

divorce records, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and the

names and addresses of family members, neighbors and business

associates, the ACLU has learned.

 

The ACLU is concerned that individuals are vulnerable to

inaccurate data collection under MATRIX, much like they were under

LEIU, and that the risks are even greater as a result of 21st century

technology. MATRIX has no citizen oversight board; it maintains

records which are not relevant to a criminal investigation or within

the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity; it may contain

information describing how an individual exercises rights guaranteed

by the First Amendment; it has no procedures for reviewing files for

accuracy or legality; and there is no stated policy for assuring the

purging of outdated information.

 

The ACLU of Michigan, in coordination with the national ACLU,

believes it has uncovered sufficient documentation from several states

that either currently participate or previously participated in MATRIX

to warrant a request for a formal analysis under the ILEIO Act as it

relates to MATRIX. Under Michigan law, an agency is required to make

the initial interpretation as to whether a specific law applies to

that agency.

 

" This request is not an accusation of any wrong-doing, " Moss

added. " However, the MSP needs to be sure that it is in compliance

with the law before they risk the privacy of Michigan residents. "

 

For more information on MATRIX, including a new ACLU briefing

paper that reveals disturbing information about the Department of

Homeland Security's involvement in the program, go to www.aclu.org/matrix

 

Feature on MATRIX (3/8/2005)

 

MATRIX

 

The MATRIX (Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information eXchange)

surveillance system combined information about individuals from

government databases and private-sector data companies. It then made

those dossiers available for search by government officials and combed

through the millions of files in a search for " anomalies " that may be

indicative of terrorist or other criminal activity. It was terminated

in April 2005, though components continued to be made available to

police in individual states. More. . .

 

Matrix Snoop Program Dismantled

(April 15, 2005)

 

MATRIX End

 

Issue Briefs

 

* ACLU White Paper: New Matrix Documents Raise Troubling

Questions (5/20/04)

* MATRIX: Myths and Reality (2/10/04)

* Data Mining Moves into the States (10/30/03)

 

General Links

 

* State-by-State breakdown of the ACLU's attempt to find out

more information on MATRIX

* FEATURE: Total Information Awareness

* FEATURE: Surveillance

* FEATURE: ACLU privacy page

 

 

Documents Received through FOIA Requests by the ACLU

(state that supplied the information in parentheses)

 

New! Documents posted May 20, 2004

 

*

Letter to DHS Chief Privacy Officer Nuala O'Connor Kelly

(requesting investigation of DHS role in Matrix)

*

MATRIX: First Responder Support slide presentation

(containing details of 'High Terrorism Factor' terrorism quotient and

revealing list of 120,000 names) (from Utah Commission)

*

Cooperative Agreement DHS-Matrix (indicating DHS's

managerial control) (New York)

*

Gov. Jeb Bush call on Matrix (Georgia)

*

Gov. Jeb Bush briefing Points for the Vice President of the

United States on Matrix (Florida)

*

Matrix Board of Directors Conference Call Minutes for

3/18/04 (Michigan)

*

DOJ Status Report on Matrix, July-December 2003 (indicating

continued discussion of data mining as of January 2004) (DOJ)

*

Sole Source Criteria for Matrix (showing centrality of data

mining to project) (multiple states)

 

Minutes from MATRIX Board Meetings

 

* MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 02/06/2003

(Georgia)

* MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 04/22/2003

(Florida)

* MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 11/05/2003

(Georgia)

* MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 01/16/2004

(Georgia)

 

Information from Federal Grants

 

* Every MATRIX Query is Run Through Terrorism Quotient

(Florida)

* Original Objectives for the MATRIX (Florida)

* Budget Breakdown of Department of Justice Grant (Florida)

 

State Concerns with the MATRIX

 

* Texas's Letter of Withdrawal from the MATRIX Program

(Florida)

* Georgia DMV Security Concerns with MATRIX (Georgia)

* Documents pertaining to Georgia's involvement in MATRIX

(Georgia)

* New York expresses their intention to withdraw from MATRIX

(New York)

* Iowa CLU letter to governor about reported intention to join

MATRIX (Iowa)

 

MATRIX Data and Applications

 

* Overview of MATRIX uses and information from Seisint (Utah)

 

* MATRIX Project Brochure (Florida)

* MATRIX Includes Court Records (Utah)

* Official MATRIX FAQ - (Connecticut)

* FACTS " Success Stories " within the MATRIX Program (Florida)

 

* A PowerPoint presentation on How Police Use MATRIX

(Connecticut)

* Georgia Homeland Security Bulletin Description of MATRIX

(Georgia)

* Slide show on Matrix (Michigan)

* Brochure on FACTS data mining software (Michigan)

* Early state data sharing with MATRIX (Utah)

* Face Recognition and MATRIX (Utah)

 

Legal Documents involving the MATRIX

 

* Contract Between Seisint and the Florida Dept. of Law

Enforcement for MATRIX (Florida)

* Memoranda of Understanding and other documents relating to

Pennsylvania's involvement (Pennsylvania)

* Florida Budget Document Concerning MATRIX (Florida)

 

Press Releases

 

*

ACLU Applauds End Of " Matrix " Program

*

ACLU of Michigan and Former Governor Charge State Police

with Violating Data Collection Law Through Controversial MATRIX

Database Program (08/03/04)

*

ACLU Unveils Disturbing New Revelations About MATRIX

Surveillance Program (05/20/2004)

*

ACLU Questions Michigan State Police's Authority to

Participate in MATRIX Data Collection Without Oversight (05/20/2004)

*

ACLU of Pennsylvania Calls On General Assembly To Bring

Matrix Under Control (03/29/2004)

*

ACLU Questions Michigan State Police Involvement in Data

Surveillance Program (02/17/2004)

*

ACLU Testifies on Newly Uncovered MATRIX Program Documents

(02/10/2004)

*

Documents Acquired By ACLU Prove That MATRIX is a Data

Mining Program (01/21/2004)

*

What Is The Matrix? ACLU Seeks Answers on New State-Run

Surveillance Program (10/30/2003)

 

Take Action!

 

Is your state an active participant in the MATRIX data mining

program?

 

If so, now is your opportunity to do something about it.

 

*

Citizen of Connecticut? Click here to send a fax asking your

state legislator to pull out.

*

Citizen of Florida? Click here to send a fax asking your

state legislator to pull out.

*

Citizen of Michigan? Click here to send a fax asking your

state legislator to pull out.

*

Citizen of Ohio? Click here to send a fax asking your state

legislator to pull out.

*

Citizen of Pennsylvania? Click here to send a fax asking

your state legislator to pull out

 

Freedom of Information Act Requests & Other Legal Documents

 

*

Legal Complaint in ACLU of Michigan Matrix Lawsuit (08/02/04)

*

FOIA Request to the US Dept. of Homeland Security

o

Second FOIA Request to the US Dept. of Homeland Security

*

FOIA Request to the California Information Practices Coordinator

*

FOIA Request to the Connecticut Department of Public Safety

*

FOIA Request to the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement

*

FOIA Request to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

*

FOIA Request to the Michigan Dept. of State Police

*

FOIA Request to the New York State Police Dept.

*

FOIA Request to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification

and Investigation

*

FOIA Request to the Oregon State Police

*

FOIA Request to the Pennsylvania State Police Dept.

o

ACLU Appeal to the Denial of some Records from the

Pennsylvania State Police Dept.

*

FOIA Request to the Texas Department of Public Safety

*

FOIA Request to the Utah Dept. of Public Safety

 

News Clips

 

*

Ohio Not Rushing to Join Antiterrorism Database (Associated

Press, 10/26/2003)

*

Two More State Back Off Matrix (Atlanta

Journal-Constitution, 10/17/2003)

*

US Backs Florida's New Antiterrorism Database (Washington

Post, 08/06/2003)

 

Other Links

 

* MATRIX homepage