[IP] Enhancing Security and Civil Liberties -- An open letter from Dave Farber, Esther Dyson and Tara Lemmey
Enhancing Security and Civil Liberties
An open letter from Dave Farber, Esther Dyson and Tara Lemmey
As long-time civil liberty and privacy advocates, we are concerned with
any government program or new technology that could lead to a loss of
the personal freedoms that all Americans have a right to. Thus, as we
consider how technology can help our government more efficiently fight
the war on terror, we are also looking for ways that it can enhance
rather than constrain those rights, most particularly in limiting the
dissemination of information that is not relevant to an investigation,
and in supporting more monitoring and accountability in the use of data
by government agents.
For the past three years, we have brought this perspective to the
Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information
Age, a group that has dedicated considerable time and resources to
determine how best to mobilize information to improve security while
protecting established liberties. Legislation currently being debated
in Congress to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations to reform
our nation's intelligence community includes a provision based largely
on the Task Force's work calling for the creation of a trusted
information network that would foster better and more targeted
information sharing and substantially improve our ability to predict
and prevent terrorist attacks while at the same time meeting our goals
for protection of civil liberties.
The Markle Task Force consists of leading national security experts
from five administrations, as well as widely recognized experts on
technology and civil liberties. Over the last several years, the Task
Force's work has broken new ground on how technology and policy can be
used together to enhance security and privacy. The Task Force's latest
report, Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security,
details the necessary elements of a proposed System-wide Homeland
Analysis and Resource Exchange (SHARE) network that would more
effectively combat terrorism than does our current system, while
protecting privacy.
If our recommendations are adopted - as looks likely - it is vital that
they be adopted completely, with the important protections for civil
liberties implemented thoroughly and in good faith. Lip service is not
enough.
The SHARE network would allow us to move from our current Cold War
mentality of classification and "need to know" to a system better able
to counter the threat of terrorism. This new approach is based on the
idea of the "need to share" and is governed by clear government-wide
guidelines on how information is collected and used and by whom, as
well as strong oversight provisions built into the design of the
network.
During the course of the debate in Congress over the implementation of
the 9/11 Commission recommendations, valid questions have been raised
over civil liberty concerns and role of such an information sharing
network. We grappled with these same questions as we worked through our
recommendations for the Task Force. We also learned important lessons
from the problems of other efforts like the Total Information Awareness
program (TIA) and MATRIX, both of which have raised serious privacy
concerns. We eventually determined that you can achieve a balance
between security and privacy if you ensure that strong guidelines,
transparency, accountability and oversight are built into the network
from the start.
In addition to the approach of building policy into the design of the
network, the Task Force also designed the network not as a centralized
database, but as a set of pointers and directories that allow only
authorized users to gain access to information. The system also calls
for regular and robust internal audits of how information is collected
and stored and used. Privacy technologies such as anonymization,
permission controls, and audit trails are built into the design of the
network to prevent abuse. In addition, the Task Force also calls for a
phased implementation to allow for appropriate public comment and a
strong civil liberties board to oversee the system and ensure that
privacy
The SHARE network capability, if implemented properly, would give us
the ability to overcome the systematic barriers to information sharing
that so seriously constrained our intelligence agencies prior to the
9/11 terrorist attacks, and that unfortunately still exist today. It
would also provide us with the best opportunity not only to balance
security and privacy, but to enhance them both as well.
David Farber is Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and
Public Policy at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon
University. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation. Esther Dyson is editor at large of CNET Netwoks,
editor of Release 1.0 and former chairman of the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers. Tara Lemmey is founder and CEO of LENS
Ventures Inc., a network of experts focused on innovation in
technology, science, law and economics. She previously served as
president of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They are all members
of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the
Information Age. For more information on the Markle Foundation Task
Force on National Security in the Information age, please see
www.markle.org.
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