Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange
Encyclopedia
The Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange Program, also known by the acronym MATRIX, was a federally funded data mining system originally developed for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is a Florida government agency. FDLE is composed of five programs: Executive Direction and Business Support, Criminal Investigations and Forensic Science, Criminal Justice Information, Criminal Justice Professionalism, and the Florida Capitol Police...

 described as a tool to identify terrorist subjects.

The system was reported to analyze government and commercial databases to find associations between suspects or to discover locations of or completely new "suspects". The database and technologies used in the system were housed by Seisint, a Florida-based company since acquired by Lexis Nexis.

The Matrix program was shut down in June 2005 after federal funding was cut in the wake of public concerns over privacy and state surveillance.

History

Matrix was the brainchild of Hank Asher
Hank Asher
Hank Asher is a businessman best known as the Father of data fusion. With a reported fortune of around US$500 million earned as the founder of several data fusion / data mining companies that compile information about companies, individuals and their interrelationships from thousands of different...

 a serial businessman in the data aggregation field. Asher reportedly contacted Florida police immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks claiming he could find the hijackers as well as other potential terrorists. Asher reportedly offered to make available the database and technology that could do the job quickly, for free, supplied by the company he owned and operated, Seisint.

Control of the system was handed over to law enforcement officials, although Seisint continued to house and operate it on their behalf. After a demonstration of the system at the White House in January 2003 Matrix received US$4 million in grants from the Justice Department and the program was earmarked US$8 million by Homeland Security.

The program snowballed, as states signed up to participate including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Ohio and Utah. California and Texas joined then exited the program citing privacy and security concerns. The federal government and the CIA was cited as likely future users.

The program's similarity to the Total Information Awareness
Information Awareness Office
The Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying surveillance and information technology to track and monitor terrorists and other asymmetric threats to national security,...

 (TIA) federally funded initiative that was terminated following public concerns contributed to Matrix's demise. Matrix came under scrutiny by the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

 (ACLU) which made Freedom of Information Act requests in Florida, where the program originated, and to the federal government on 30 October 2003. The ACLU followed this up with simultaneous information requests in Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania for information about those states' participation in Matrix.

The ACLU's requests sought to find out the information sources that Matrix was drawing upon, who had access to the database and how it is being used. As well as the funding and operational described here, the ACLU's requests revealed that the Matrix would perform an almost identical function to the banned TIA. Matrix would bind together government and commercial databases to allow federal and state law enforcement entities to conduct detailed searches on individuals.

Public revelation of the projects funding caused an uproar in the media and states began withdrawing their support. The Matrix program was finally shut down in June 2005 after federal funding was cut in the wake of public concerns over privacy and state surveillance.

Seisint retained the technology used to operate Matrix. Both Seisint and its Matrix technology are now owned by Lexis Nexis.

Function

The Matrix website stated that the data would include criminal histories, driver's license data, vehicle registration records, and public data record entries. Other data was thought to include credit histories, driver's 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 pointed out that the type of data that the Matrix compiles could be expanded to include information in commercial databases encompasses such as purchasing habits, magazine subscriptions, income and job histories.

Matrix would combine these government records and information from commercial databases in a data warehouse
Data warehouse
In computing, a data warehouse is a database used for reporting and analysis. The data stored in the warehouse is uploaded from the operational systems. The data may pass through an operational data store for additional operations before it is used in the DW for reporting.A data warehouse...

. Dossiers would be reviewed by specialized software to identify anomalies using 'mathematical analysis.' When anomalies are spotted, they would be scrutinized by personnel who would search for evidence of terrorism or other crimes.

Like the TIA, Matrix would use data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...

 where searches for patterns in this data (including the 'anomalies') would be used to identify individuals possibly involved in terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 or other criminal activity. Congressional critic Paula B. Dockery pointed out that like the TIA, this kind of 'data mining' may be ineffective, and have severe downsides, including its privacy costs.

Data from Matrix would be transferred through the Regional Information Sharing Systems
Regional Information Sharing Systems
Regional Information Sharing Systems is an information-sharing program funded by the U.S. Federal government whose purpose is to connect databases from local and regional law enforcement so that they can use each other's data for criminal investigations....

 network , an existing secure law enforcement network used to transmit sensitive information among law enforcement agencies. The network was linked to High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, United States Attorneys' Offices, other federal agencies and several state law enforcement systems.

See also

  • Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II
    Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II
    The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System was a program of the United States Department of Homeland Security instituted to increase security at airports by assessing the risk level of passengers before they're allowed to board...

  • Total Information Awareness
    Information Awareness Office
    The Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying surveillance and information technology to track and monitor terrorists and other asymmetric threats to national security,...

  • Joint Regional Information Exchange System
    Joint Regional Information Exchange System
    The Joint Regional Information Exchange System began in December 2002 as an all-source intelligence / information sharing system, designed initially as a grassroots pilot system to connect the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, the New York Police Department, and the Defense...

  • Regional Information Sharing Systems
    Regional Information Sharing Systems
    Regional Information Sharing Systems is an information-sharing program funded by the U.S. Federal government whose purpose is to connect databases from local and regional law enforcement so that they can use each other's data for criminal investigations....

  • Surveillance
    Surveillance
    Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...

  • Terrorist Screening Center
    Terrorist Screening Center
    The Terrorist Screening Center is an FBI organization for identifying suspected or potential terrorists.It maintains a database, the Terrorist Screening Database , the aim of which is to contain information about all known or suspected terrorists, and makes this information available to a number of...

  • Traffic Violations Reciprocity
    Traffic Violations Reciprocity
    Under traffic violations reciprocity agreements, non-resident drivers are treated like residents when they are stopped for a traffic offense that occurs in another jurisdiction. They also ensure that punishments such as "points" on one's license and the ensuring increase in insurance premiums...

     and Driver License Agreement
    Driver License Agreement
    In the USA, the Driver License Agreement is a new interstate compact written by the Joint Executive Board of the Driver License Compact and the Non-Resident Violator Compact with staff support provided by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators...

  • USA PATRIOT Act
    USA PATRIOT Act
    The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...


External links

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