Privacy wins against Total Information Awareness

TIA has drawn criticism from all sides, according to Reuters. Privacy activists were horrified when it was proposed, claiming that it would be a massive infringement of civil liberties. Two senators, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, sponsored an amendment to government spending cutting off funding for the project until congress is satisfied that it won't be used to snoop on US citizens.

The amendment stops any deployment of the system being used against US citizens without congressional approval, though it still allows TIA to be used on non-US citizens living in America. The government department behind TIA has been given 90 days to give a full explanation to congress, including a report on its impact on civil liberties.

According to Senator Ron Wyden, "now we are saying you can't do that without congressional authorization. And you can't even go forward with the research without detailing what it is to be about, and the whole exercise has got to be part of a vigorous oversight regime."

It seems that privacy activists have won at least a small reprieve from what they see as a system straight out of 1984. µ

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