DHS Ends Criticized Data-Mining Program

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, before the House Homeland Security Committee. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh - AP)

_Lists of foreign exchange students, immigrants under investigation and people from special interest countries.

Although Knocke said ADVISE "was never used in an operational environment" and DHS had assured Congress in 2006 it was not operational, the inspector general found that "on at least one occasion, the data was used to produce classified intelligence information."

At Lawrence Livermore, analysts used the pilot system "to uncover previously unknown connections between organized crime and terrorism," the IG found in a July report quietly made public last month.

The privacy office concluded that although required privacy analyses were ignored, the Privacy Act was not technically violated because the live data were covered by privacy notices issued earlier for other programs that originally gathered the information. Dempsey argued those were too vague to alert citizens how ADVISE would use their data.

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DHS inspector general report:

http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-56_Jun07.pdf

DHS privacy office report:

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_rpt_advise.pdf