Security and Privacy

Letter by CDT and other civil liberties groups supporting the Wyden TIA amendment

January 30, 2003

The Honorable C.W. Bill Young
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
United States House
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable David Obey
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States House
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Young and Ranking Member Obey:

We - a diverse, nonpartisan coalition of national organizations - urge you to retain the Wyden amendment limiting funding for the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program in the final omnibus continuing appropriations act in the form in which it was adopted in the Senate. This important amendment - Senate Amendment No. 59 - is a crucial first step to protecting the civil liberties and privacy of innocent people inside the United States.

According to the Pentagon itself, TIA would put the details of Americans' daily lives under the scrutiny of government agents, opening the door to a massive domestic surveillance system. TIA programs would mine vast amounts of information about innocent people stored in government and private electronic databases, tracking everything from ATM withdrawals to Internet usage to medical records. And, according to information Senator Grassley obtained from the Defense Department's Inspector General, the Pentagon is already working with the FBI to plot the use of TIA programs for domestic surveillance and law enforcement.

The Wyden amendment as passed would block the deployment of any TIA program until Congress, based on a specific justification by the Secretary of Defense, has provided specific authorization and appropriation of funds. The exceptions in the amendment as adopted allow a TIA program to be used to support a lawful military operation or a lawful foreign intelligence activity conducted wholly overseas or wholly against non-U.S. persons. This would allow DARPA to continue limited actions where there is a compelling need, but should effectively preclude the use of TIA inside the United States.

This amendment is a vital check on the Pentagon's unilateral actions to develop and implement a massive domestic surveillance tool. Strong congressional oversight is crucial in these circumstances. In addition, further legislative action will be necessary to put a complete stop to the development and implementation of TIA and other similar initiatives that will vastly expand suspicionless government collection and use of personal information, such as the CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Profiling System) program of the Transportation Security Administration.

We urge you to include the Wyden amendment as passed by the Senate in the conference report. At a time when Americans are calling for more privacy of personal information, this program would provide a backdoor to databases of private information. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance or if you would like to meet with us to discuss the amendment.

Sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union
Americans for Tax Reform
Center for Democracy and Technology
Eagle Forum
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Free Congress Foundation
People for the American Way
Rutherford Institute

cc. House conferees to H.J.Res.2, the Omnibus Appropriations bill