[IP] Dempsey and Louie: On a tightrope
------- Original message -------
From: Lynn <lynn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 22/3/'05, 11:50
I was part of a small group to see the actual demonstration of the system
at Markle last year. I was very impressed by the amount of thought and
planning that went into the system as demonstrated. The front end was KISS
- keep it simple. I could also appreciate the amount of thought, planning
and work in the background.
Just like any system, I could easily see areas for abuse. Like most
systems, it has more to do with social engineering rather than the system
itself. I would hope additional checks were added, or perhaps they were
just not demonstrated.
I would also hope further safeguards are in place to prevent a situation
such as we saw at ChoicePoint, or any of the other similar situations.
In this present political climate, this country is going to have some type
of system to share information, whether we like it or not. I think this
system goes a long way in sharing information while safeguarding privacy.
It is a huge improvement than other proposed systems to the best of my
knowledge. IMO this system also demonstrates what can be done by a group
of experts that understand all aspects of the situation without
politicians involved.
A few things I did not see in the demo, although it may be part of the
system:
1. how to train users regarding social engineering
2. how to correct misinformation
3. corrective measures for those who had their privacy invaded incorrectly
or as an abuse.
4. punitive damages for those that suffered due to #2 and #3.
Lynn
> Note: I am a member of the Task Force and
> http://www.markle.org/markle_programs/policy_for_a_networked_society/nationa
> l_security/index.php
>
> djf
>
>
> Dempsey and Louie: On a tightrope
>
>
> Pair sought common ground between security, privacy
>
>
> BY Florence Olsen
> FCW, Published on Mar. 20, 2005
>
>
>
> An unusual task force began meeting shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,
> terrorist attacks. The group's members, known as the Markle Foundation
> Task
> Force on National Security in the Information Age, were determined to find
> a
> way to prevent such awful events from happening again.
>
> Composed of about 50 prominent experts, the task force met frequently in
> small groups and as a whole to analyze and discuss the problem with senior
> Bush administration officials.
>
> In December 2003, they offered a recommendation: Use network and database
> technologies that are commercially available to reorganize the federal
> government and eliminate the communication failures that allowed the 2001
> attacks to happen.
>
> With such a reorganization, federal and local authorities could finally
> connect the dots about future terrorist plots and get information they
> need
> to avert surprise attacks, the group argued.
>
> The Markle Foundation's task force was not a typical one. Its members were
> an unusual mix of national security, privacy and technology experts, many
> of
> whom have government experience but now work in the private sector. Jim
> Dempsey, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Democracy and
> Technology, and Gilman Louie, president and chief executive officer of
> In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm financed by the CIA, were among the
> leading
> members.
>
> The task force's work was influential. President Bush issued an executive
> order in August 2004 requiring the creation of an information-sharing
> network. Congress enacted intelligence reform legislation in December
> 2004,
> incorporating the task force's ideas.
>
> "Can you name any other private report that has been translated directly
> as
> legislation?" asked Paul Rosenzweig, senior legal research fellow at the
> Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "It is almost
> impossible to think of a private organization that has had as much
> influence
> on a substantive policy as the Markle Foundation has had on the
> information-sharing network in the legislation."
>
> In discussions that lasted sometimes for several days, Dempsey said,
> members
> of the task force reached consensus on several compelling ideas that have
> gained widespread, although not universal, acceptance. First among them is
> the notion that federal officials should rely more on information
> technology
> to safeguard national security.
>
> "It's one of our strongest suits in fighting terrorism," Dempsey said,
> adding that federal officials have not yet made good use of IT to prevent
> future attacks.
>
> Second, the task force said that federal agencies must protect people's
> privacy as they try to strengthen national security in an age of
> terrorism.
> An IT "program that does not respect privacy from inception is doomed to
> fail," Dempsey said.
>
> He cited as an example the brief existence of the Defense Department's
> Total
> Information Awareness program, which lawmakers quickly cancelled. "The
> public, the Congress, the executive branch will not tolerate, even in the
> face of this serious threat, a program that intrudes upon privacy,"
> Dempsey
> said.
>
> In addition, the group's members said technology can enforce government
> policies automatically, without human intervention. "We now have the
> capability to do that," Louie said.
>
> The task force became a proponent of the idea that federal agencies could
> reorganize their intelligence operations by utilizing powerful network and
> database technologies. "For the first time, we can leverage the power of
> the
> network," Louie said, "making it much harder for someone to attack this
> country than if we were operating as separate, distinct organizations."
>
> Many ideas from the task force originated with Louie and Dempsey. For
> example, Louie contributed his know-how for designing and building
> commercial technologies, Dempsey said.
>
> Louie also brought a Silicon Valley perspective to the task force. In that
> environment, business executives emphasize "collaboration, innovation,
> flexibility and interoperability < all of the things that are missing from
> the governmental IT process," Dempsey said.
>
> Other task force members echoed the view that Louie's unique perspective
> on
> government IT derives from his experience as a venture capitalist for the
> CIA.
>
> "The CIA and intelligence community have the same IT problems that
> industry
> is facing: managing vast amounts of data and creating secure
> communications," said Jeffrey Smith, a senior partner in the law firm
> Arnold
> and Porter, a member of the task force and a former CIA general counsel.
>
> That means that commercial technologies developed for Citibank can solve
> the
> CIA's problems, too, if they are put together the right way, Smith said.
>
> Influenced by Louie's insights, the task force recommended the creation of
> a
> virtual intelligence organization using an information-sharing network
> built
> from commercially available network and database technologies.
>
> As one of Louie's colleagues on the task force, Dempsey made contributions
> of a different sort, said Peter Swire, a law professor at Ohio State
> University who was chief counselor for privacy during the Clinton
> administration. Dempsey is one of the few privacy and civil liberties
> experts who is also deeply knowledgeable about national security issues,
> Swire said.
>
> Because Dempsey stood behind the task force's proposal for a new
> information-sharing network, Swire said, lawmakers were comfortable with
> the
> idea. "Jim's support for the network probably made it easier for Congress
> to
> accept that it would be done consistent with privacy," he said.
>
> Although the task force's recommendations have been enacted into law, its
> members have not quit working. Some of them remain busy trying to help
> Bush
> administration and agency officials build the network that lawmakers asked
> for in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
>
> Not everyone believes that it can be done, Smith said. "There are some
> critics saying that we were dreamers and that the idea that we could
> create
> this network and everything would magically fall in place is just silly,"
> he
> said.
>
> Dempsey is convinced that the new law requiring an information-sharing
> network is a sound one. And he is hopeful but not completely certain that
> such a network will be built. In the context of the new law, he said,
> "there
> is still some resistance, some confusion within the executive branch about
> what sharing means."
>
>
>
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