Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The U.S. Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, "which developed technologies to predict terrorist attacks by mining government databases and the personal records of people in the United States," was not ended, as lawmakers directed in 2003, but merely moved and renamed. While "it is no secret that some parts of TIA lived on," the National Journal reports details of how TIA continued. Two key programs moved to the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA), at the National Security Agency. One, a $19 million contract given to Hicks & Associates "to build the prototype system," was renamed "Basketball." The other is a $3.7 million contract given to SAIC, "to help analysts and policy makers anticipate and pre-empt terrorist attacks." That work, initially called "Genoa II," was renamed "Topsail." Whether these programs are still active is unclear. ARDA itself is being moved to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office and renamed the "Disruptive Technology Office."
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