Stories about data mining are everywhere. They are stories about new types of surveillance and how the data gets used; they are stories about how web-based data is used to identify people; they are stories about privacy lost; and about terrorists found. Here are some recent stories in the news with a data mining connection, along with a few older articles on the topic:
Detecting Insider Threats from Massive Data Sets (Homeland Security Newswire, November 11, 2011)
The Defense Advance Projects Research Agency (DARPA) has funded a new project. Researchers in the 2-year, $9 million project (known as ADAMS for Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales) will create a suite of algorithms that can detect multiple types of insider threats by analyzing massive amounts of data — including email, text messages and file transfers — for unusual activity.
Data-Crunching Program Guides Santa Cruz Police (New York Times, August 15, 2011)
Using the same data analysis algorithms that help to predict earthquake aftershocks, the Santa Cruz police predict high crime areas and schedule patrols to match the predictions. This story tells something of their successes and begins to sound a bit like Minority Report.
Meet the ‘Keyzer Soze’ of Global Phone-Tracking (Wired, July 18, 2011)
This story publicizes a little known company, TruePosition, that specializes in geo-location technology. Much of what TruePosition does is used by law enforcement and homeland security professionals to track individuals – a practice known as Location Intelligence, or LOCINT.
Peeking at medical records an issue for health centers (Gazette, July 17, 2011)
With digitization of health records and their storage becoming a contentious issue, this story reveals how it is fairly common practice to gain unwarranted access to health records.
Travelers checks: Automatic License Plate Readers track your every move (Boston Globe, July 14, 2011)
In a guest blog on the site, the writer talks about how Massachusetts is using automatic license plate readers to track vehicular movement and says data gathered is fed into a database and mined or analyzed.
Hackers Target Data Mining Technology Provider (Homeland Security Today, July 13, 2011)
This story talks about how hacker groups targeted a military contractor that provides data mining technology to the government.
Europe Tries to Curb U.S. Role in Tracking Terrorists’ Funds (New York Times, July 13, 2011)
A concerned European Union wants to find a “European solution” for sifting through financial transactions in trying to identify terror plots. At present, the EU sends the data in bulk to the United States under a program that was established by the Bush administration.
Privacy advocate knocks child-porn bill (The Hill, July 12, 2011)
Privacy advocates express opposition to a bill that allow for Internet Service Providers to retain internet logs for up to 18 months in order to track child pornagraphers.
Lawsuit Over Google WiFi Data Breach Will Move Ahead (Paid Content, June 30, 2011)
Google’s streetview car has been troubled by lawsuits after it was discovered that they accidentally collected unencrypted Wi-Fi data. Google is facing wiretapping charges for this data breach.
Online data battle brews (The Tennessean, June 30, 2011)
This story explores how new companies have sprung up in Silicon Valley, offering to help people protect their online data and secure their information in the digital age.
Microsoft Wins Patent For Internet Spying Technology (Information Week, June 28,2011)
The story talks about how Microsoft has won a patent for a new technology that can help intercept internet communication. Microsoft hopes to offer its services to the federal government, which has been looking for better technology to intercept data.
Free to Search and Seize (New York Times, June 22, 2011)
An op-ed column by David Shipler argues that fourth amendment rights are under attack and that the current administration is more than happy to comb through personal data.
Upending Anonymity, These Days the Web Unmasks Everyone (New York Times, June 21, 2011)
The story tells the tale of a famous photo taken in Vancouver, BC during the riots on the night that the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup playoffs. The photo shows a couple lying on the ground, seemingly oblivious to the riot around them, making out. They soon became known as the “kissing couple,” and after just a day or two with the photo on the web, they were identified as Scott Jones and Alex Thomas. On the web, everyone knows who you are and who you are kissing.
F.B.I. Agents Get Leeway to Push Privacy Bounds (New York Times, June 12, 2011)
The FBI recently relaxed restrictions on the activities its agents may undertake in gathering data for investigative purposes. One can only assume a subsequent uptick in information flowing to government data repositories will follow.
I Am Here: One Man’s Experiment With the Location-Aware Lifestyle (Wired, April 19, 2011)
A day in the life of a reporter who turned on the geo-location technology in his iPhone, and let people follow his every movement. Along the way he used it to find the home address of a woman he had casually observed taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. If he had been a stalker ….
It’s Tracking Your Every Move and You May Not Even Know (New York Times, March 26, 2011)
Your cellphone is on all the time and broadcasts a signal so that the cell towers can locate the phone and route calls to you. The phone company keeps the records of that location data – and sometimes is required to give it to the police. Using the geo-location tags from your cell phone, police can track your every trip over extended periods of time.
Data Mining: How Companies Now Know Everything About You (Time, March 10, 2011)
One author’s exploration of the information available about him online – everything from his social security number, name, address, and phone number, to his job, the type of computer he owns, details about his children, and the like. The data he found is deep and revealing – and also loaded with errors.
Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software (New York Times, March 5, 2011)
Often during a lawsuit one side will be required to produce documents related to the case. Sometimes there are lots of documents (up to 6 million in some cases) and, in the past, the litigants have had to pay lawyers to sift through them to see what was written in them. Now, law firms are using data mining techniques to find the documents; to identify who is in charge; and even to identify gaps in documentation that mean a conversation has been taken “offline.”
How public is public data? With Public Engines v. ReportSee, new access standards could emerge (Nieman Journalism Lab, Feb. 24, 2011)
Two companies both using the same data mining techniques are using crime statistics to map out crime patterns. This story reports on a commercial dispute between them regarding how and when the crime data becomes part of the public domain, and when it is proprietary.
A Little Less Privacy, a Bit More Security (New York Times, Nov. 12, 2010)
An op-ed that gives a pessimistic assessment of the future of Americans’ traditional conceptions of privacy, written in the context of the national security-civil liberties nexus of the 21st century. The author argues that a rethinking of that nexus is not only advisable, but necessary, in an age where data is increasingly available and valuable.
How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data (Mashable, March 10, 2010)
A look at arguably the richest and most controversial source for data mining companies: social media. While engaging with the social media space via websites like Facebook and MySpace is entirely voluntary, the extent to which that data can or should be mined is still being debated among the social media giants, other private companies, the government and users. One thing is certain: there’s value in the aggregated “likes” and status updates of hundreds of millions.
“Gaydar” on Facebook: Can Your Friends Reveal Sexual Orientation (ABC News, Sept. 22, 2009)
Two MIT students did a study of social networks on Facebook. Their surprising discovery: They could accurately predict a person’s sexual orientation based on the Facebook “friends” and “likes.”
Washington’s $8 Billion Shadow (Vanity Fair, March 2007)
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is one of thousands of companies that contracts with the federal government on national security issues. However, instead of tanks or missiles, SAIC provides “brain power,” employing more than 44,000 employees in pursuit of various technological solutions to national security dilemmas – many of them based on data mining techniques. This article takes an in-depth look at this company’s impressive hold on Washington’s national security establishment.
FEMA Outsources Identity Verification for Disaster Assistance (Government Executive, July 24, 2006)
After a disaster, many victims have no identification papers with them. FEMA uses a commercial data mining company to help it verify the identity of the victims so they can receive disaster assistance. The verification also helps to identify fraudulent claims made by individuals falsely posing as victims.
Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror (New York Times, June 23, 2006)
One of the most controversial articles ever written about data mining, this story disclosed a secret US government program that sifted through international bank money transfer transactions to spot terrorist efforts to finance their attacks. By most accounts the program was quite successful. The Times’ disclosure of it led to a political confrontation with Europe and the scaling back of the program.
Government Increasingly Turning to Data Mining: Peek Into Private Lives May Help in Hunt for Terrorists (Washington Post, June 15, 2006)
An overview of data mining in the context of the federal government’s counter-terrorism efforts. This article takes a closer look at the role of private companies, which have long held troves of personal information on Americans and foreigners, and whose sales of raw data to the U.S. government have increased significantly in the years following 9/11.
Phone Calls Are Just the Start (Washington Post, May 14, 2006)
An opinion-oriented take on government data mining capabilities and consequences, written following the revelation that the National Security Agency was collecting vast quantities of Americans’ telephone records. The author looks at the threat that algorithmic data mining presents in a society that values the jurisprudential notion of innocence until proven guilty.
Why Data Mining Won’t Stop Terror (Wired, March 9, 2006)
A Wired editorial that says data mining is not good enough to stop terror attacks and arguing that it is a waste of valuable time and resources to devote attention to fine tuning data mining mechanisms.
NSA Gave Other U.S. Agencies Information From Surveillance (Washington Post, Jan. 1, 2006)
This article sheds light on a practice that was largely absent pre-9/11: information sharing. According to the 9/11 Commission, the disparate nature of intelligence was one of biggest failures of America’s national security apparatus in the lead up to the attacks. Since then, agencies across the federal government have consciously worked to improve information sharing. The result is more data, available to more people. For those agencies with counter-terrorism responsibilities, accessing information has never been easier.
In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans (Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2005)
A look at data mining in the context of a dramatic expansion of National Security Letters issuances, which compel holders of data to share the information with the requesting federal agency. The article describes one case of frenzied data mining and “epic efforts to vacuum up information” in late 2003, carried out based on intelligence that indicated a potential New Year’s Eve terrorism threat to Las Vegas, Nev.
