The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published an analysis of DARPA's "Report to Congress regarding the Terrorism Information Awareness Program" (TIA) which characterizes the report as a bust. "The government had an opportunity to open public discourse about TIA; for the most part, it chose to hide behind broad and vague generalities." [Link]

We have no good information about how many mistakes are in these databases; we should be especially concerned by their reliance on inherently fuzzy concepts like "extremist." And yet only recently the Justice Department exempted the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which provides over 80,000 law enforcement agencies with access to data on wanted persons, missing persons, gang members, stolen cars, boats, and other information, from the Privacy Act requirements of accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness. Why? Because "it is impossible to determine in advance what information is accurate, relevant, timely and complete."

Discuss EFF on Total Information Awareness