Remember the brouhaha over DARPA's Total Information Awareness program, described by William Safire as a technology that would create a "computerized dossier on your private life?" Well, the data-mining debate is back, at least in Asia, where Singapore is getting ready to roll-out its "risk assessment and horizon scanning, or RAHS, a system designed to link data across all government agencies to help pinpoint possible threats.
Proponents of the system -- like those who defended the DARPA programs -- say that data-mining can be done while protecting privacy, and that stifling technology doesn't make sense. Good points. But the crux of the debate is how data-mining programs are implemented, and what safeguards are in place. Singapore says it's studying ways to protect privacy (DARPA claimed the same thing).
I'd be the last one to say we should throw out all government research on data-mining technology -- that simply doesn't make any sense. But it's inevitable that a technology designed to sift through personal records in the hopes of sniffing out terrorists is going to raise some red flags.
So, why is RAHS an issue here in the U.S.? Because those working on the system hope to garner interest in the U.S., and other countries. And, then there's John Poindexter, the Iran-Contra figure who was in charge of the DARPA data-mining programs; in 2003, his involvement was even more fodder for the TIA debate. Turns out the Singaporeans invited him to their conference this week to roll out RAHS. An interesting choice.
Is RAHS an Orwellian data-snooping system that should scare privacy advocates, or an innovative technology that will help Singapore? Or both? Read my article on the Singaporean system in Wired News and judge for yourself.
