Total Information Awareness

The Total Information Awareness (TIA) project is part of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) Information Awareness Office. Retired Admiral John Poindexter conceived the project, which is supposedly still in a preliminary research phase. TIA gathers information on people so that the government can track potential terrorists and criminals. In theory, TIA will track individuals by collecting as much information as possible about them by sorting through massive amounts of information that comes from credit card, medical, school and travel records. By combining technological advances with human analysis the database is intended to help the government detect possible terrorist activities. The TIA program raises serious statutory and constitutional legal issues and threatens to severely heighten governmental surveillance.

Click on the links below to learn more about Total Information Awareness controversy.

  • The civil liberties community sent a joint letter to the House of Representative's Committee on Armed Services.
  • In late January 2003, the Senate adopted an amendment that will hold up TIA until fundamental questions are answered. The amendment has yet to pass the House and the Department of Defense has started lobbying against it. Concerned citizens can help urge the Congress to put some limits on TIA. Visit http://www.cdt.org/action/tia/ for more information.
  • Senator Feingold has introduced legislation entitled Data-Mining Moratorium Act ( S. 188) that will place a moratorium on the project: