The Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) Pilot Project

Publication Date: August 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information; Social conditions

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Abstract:

This report provides an overview of the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) pilot project, which leverages advanced computer/information management capabilities to more quickly access, share, and analyze public records to help law enforcement generate leads, expedite investigations, and possibly prevent terrorist attacks. The pilot project is intended to demonstrate the effective use of such capabilities, but it is less clear whether the project has been designed to prevent unnecessary intrusions on privacy.

The MATRIX pilot project is being administered by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Project security and access to the MATRIX system is managed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The project is being funded by the DHS Office of Domestic Preparedness ($8 million) and the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance ($4 million).

Privacy advocates, civil libertarians, and others oppose MATRIX and similar systems for fear that unrestricted data mining could lead to a massive invasion of privacy, as such systems could enable governments to scrutinize the lives and activities of ordinary citizens. Advocates for the MATRIX pilot project counter that this system allows authorized investigators to share and analyze information that is already available to law enforcement from public and state-owned data, without a subpoena or court order. They contend that, with MATRIX, limited investigative information can be developed to generate potential leads within seconds, as opposed to taking days or weeks to manually track and acquire the same information. The 9/11 Commission did not address the issue of data mining of public or private sector data for the purposes of fighting terrorism, but the commission expressed concern about data sharing between government agencies and the private sector. To protect the privacy of individuals, the commission called for the President to promulgate guidelines to govern information sharing, and establish a board to oversee adherence to those guidelines.

It remains uncertain whether the MATRIX pilot project is currently designed to assess and address privacy and civil liberty concerns. If not, it might be possible that the pilot project could be redesigned to provide an empirical framework to evaluate the use of such data in the future and to minimize unwarranted intrusions on privacy. It has been suggested that, unless a consensus were found regarding the use of public and private sector data for the purposes of national security and counterterrorism, the unregulated use of such data could lead to abuses and unnecessary encroachments on privacy. Perhaps equally as important, a lack of consensus could lead to public rejection and subsequent loss of what many believe to be one of the greatest advantages available to the United States to prevent future terrorist attacks - advanced computing capabilities. This report will be updated as needed.