September 21, 2007

'Fusion Centers' Raise Significant Privacy Questions

Privacy concerns persist with state-run "fusion centers" designed to help law enforcers investigate suspected terrorist plots, nongovernmental policy watchers told a Homeland Security Department panel on Wednesday. More than 40 state, local and regional centers have been established in recent years, and several bills now pending before Congress have elements that address the centers. Fusion centers are financed by the states and the Homeland Security Department, and there is no uniform structure. A July report from the Congressional Research Service found that the high-tech intelligence operations "have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach."

Privacy advocates wary of data 'fusion centers', National Journal's Technology Daily, September 20, 2007.