EXCERPT;
The more data you collect, the more problematic accurate mass identification becomes.
NSA Competency with Data (SSN or otherwise)
The “Underwear Bomber” parents meet with the CIA at least twice to warn them about their son.
A useful Senate Budget hearing on the NSA and its acquisition of phone, credit, bank and other records should go something like:
The following dialogue is fictional but the facts and links are real.
Sen. X: Mr. N, as a representative of the NSA, are you familiar with the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?
Mr. N: Yes.
Sen. X: I understand that the CIA entered his name in the Terrorist
Identities Datamart Environment in November of 2009. But his name was not added to the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, which feeds the Secondary Screening Selectee list and the U.S.’s No Fly List.
Identities Datamart Environment in November of 2009. But his name was not added to the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, which feeds the Secondary Screening Selectee list and the U.S.’s No Fly List.
Mr. N: Yes.
Sen. X: The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, Terrorist Screening Database, Secondary Screening Selectee list and the U.S.’s No Fly List are all U.S. government databases? Databases to which the NSA has complete access?
Mr. N: Yes.
Sen. X: So, the NSA was unable to manage data in four (4) U.S. government databases well enough to prevent a terrorist from boarding a plane destined from the United States.
My question is if the NSA can’t manage four U.S. goverment databases, what proof is there the NSA can usefully manage all phone and other electronic traffic usefully?
Mr. N: I don’t know.
Sen. X: Who would know?
Mr. N: The computer and software bidders for the NSA DarkStar facility in Utah.
Sen. X: And who would they be?
Mr. N: That’s classified.
Sen. X: Classified?
Mr. N: Yes, classified.
Sen. X: Has it ever occurred to you that bidders have an interest in their contracts being funded and agencies in having larger budgets?
Mr. N: Sorry, I don’t understand the question.
Sen. X: My bad, I really didn’t think you would.
End of fictional hearing transcript
The known facts show the NSA can’t manage four (4) U.S. government databases to prevent a known terrorist from entering the U.S.
What evidence would you offer to prove the NSA is competent to use complex data sets? (You can find more negative evidence on evavesdropping at Bruce Scheneier’s NSA Eavesdropping Yields Dead Ends.)
PS: On the National Security Industrial Complex, see: Apparently Some Stuff Happened This Weekend.
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