Intelligence network worries the right, left

WASHINGTON — They could call it MATRIX Reloaded.

Less than a year after Utah Gov. Olene Walker pulled the plug on the supercharged crime-fighting computer known as MATRIX, the U.S. Congress is poised to implement its own national information-sharing network that would link hundreds upon hundreds of government and commercial databases.

Its goal: To fight terrorism.

The National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 — currently being debated in the Senate — contains a provision for an "Information Sharing Network" to coordinate data from "all available sources."

Citing the findings on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, the bill states, "The effective use of information, from all available sources, is essential to the fight against terror and the protection of our homeland. The biggest impediment to all-source analysis, and to a greater likelihood of connecting the dots, is resistance to sharing."

That, and a resistance from civil libertarians and conservatives who believe such an all-seeing computer system threatens fundamental constitutional rights by creating a mechanism for the government to spy on every American.

"It really, really bothers me that none of us have any privacy anymore," said Gayle Ruzicka of the Utah Eagle Forum, who finds herself on the same side of the issue as the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Privacy is a thing of the past, and there is no way to slow it down or stop it," she added.

But Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, says he supports the idea of an information-sharing network, pointing out that 15 different intelligence agencies cannot currently communicate with one another.

"The 9/11 Commission and President Bush have proposed the creation of a new network to break down those barriers, which currently prevent the sharing of critical intelligence and allow all the intelligence agencies to communicate on the same, secure system," he said. "The new network will provide the intelligence agencies with a total picture of the intelligence, not just a small, incomplete snap shot."

The network would include data from federal departments and agencies, state and tribal governments, local authorities and "relevant private sector entities, including owners and operators of critical infrastructure."

Critics worry about phrases like "all available sources," which could mean government investigators would have one-stop shopping for everything from a person's credit reports to insurance claims.

In other words, it could do everything promised by the controversial MATRIX, the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, and maybe even more since it would mandate that federal agencies "coordinate, communicate and collaborate."