Controversial military data gathering system could be shut off

As data gathering controversies go, this one is a doozy. This week the Pentagon’s intelligence undersecretary recommended the Defense Department shut down its controversial TALON classified database that has been widely criticized for improperly collecting information on citizens and anti-war groups.  The Air Force developed TALON, or the Threat and Local Observation Notice system in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a way to gather data on possible terrorist threats.   But the database hasn’t always been used properly. Anti-war groups and other organizations, protested after it was revealed last year  that the military had monitored anti-war activities, organizations and individuals who attended peace rallies.  While the Pentagon last fall said the program was productive and had detected international terrorist interests in specific military bases, it also acknowledged that some workers may not have been using the system properly, according to the Washington Post.   Specifically a Pentagon review found that as many as 260 reports in the database were improperly collected or kept there. At the time, the Pentagon said there were about 13,000 entries in the database, and that less than two percent either were wrongly added or were not purged later when they were determined not to involve real threats, the Post article said. Last week James Clapper, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for intelligence sent a meme to  Defense Secretary Robert Gates to terminate the controversial military database program.  Gates has not made a statement about the recommendation yet.  "I have assessed results of the TALON program during the last year and I do not believe they merit continuing the program as currently constituted particularly in light of its image in the Congress and the media," Clapper said in the  memo according to a Reuters report.  Despite the notion that TALON will end, the ACLU said Congress must exercise oversight and hold hearings to determine the extent of this and similar programs. "Our military has no business spying on Americans. We should not be spied on for exercising our right of free expression. While we applaud the suggested discontinuance of the program, the fact remains that many such programs continue in secret. We therefore do not know what other sorts of programs are being conducted by the DoD, said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office in a statement. "Someone has to watch the watcher. Congress needs to hold hearings and conduct thorough oversight to ensure that all Americans can lawfully express their opinions without being suspected of terrorism." The ACLU's report on the TALON database, 'No Real Threat,' is available here.