Computer list criticized for terrorist ID formula

Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004

U.S. SECURITY
Computer list criticized for terrorist ID formula

A Florida database company's creation of a list of 'potential terrorists' has created privacy concerns, although the company said it has dropped the idea.

BY TIM HENDERSON
thenderson@herald.com


The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the federal government to withdraw $8 million in funding for a Florida contractor that created a list of 120,000 potential terrorists used for arrests and deportations soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The company, which developed the list as a selling point for its MATRIX database service, ultimately did not include the terrorist-identification formula in its service.

But the ACLU isn't convinced that the formula and list won't surface again and be used as a pretext to arrest or harass innocent people.
''What people should be worried about is false accusation,'' Barry Steinhardt, who is investigating the Boca Raton contractor for the ACLU, said at a press conference in Miami Thursday.

The contractor, Seisint, made the list using public records and investigative files as a demonstration of its method for sharing information among police agencies.
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