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MATRIX Challenge
An either/or approach is not helpful when privacy and security are concerned: we need both*
Robert R. Friedmann
In a series of articles ("Matrix links up
private data: Social Security numbers, driver's license fingerprints would be
part of crime database," 10/10/3; "Database would put privacy at
risk, some warn," 10/11/03; and "Legal questions delay Matrix State
officials ask attorney general to resolve issues with crime database,"
10/15/03), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided a comprehensive account
of the newly introduced electronic investigative tool known by the acronym
MATRIX (Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information Exchange) including what kind of
data it can scan, how it operates, its cost, the dubious character if its
founder, who would or would not have access to it, and how effective it is (or
could be).
The articles also included concerned comments
from what the paper called "privacy advocates." One such
comment was offered by former US Attorney and former Congressman Bob Barr who
stated that our choice is to "live in (Orwell's) 1984" or in a
"society that America has always been." Other concerns cited by the
articles have to do with the cost of the program, leaving the impression that
if there is a cost to Georgia the state might drop out. The paper has
also pointed out that there are legal questions about allowing the state to
share information with non-government organizations "out of the state
control" and whether blanket sharing of driver records violates state
law. For balance the paper has interviewed the GBI Director who provided
valuable input from the end-user perspective.
Then an AJC editorial ("Matrix system would
put privacy on endangered list." 10/16/03) dwells on a metaphorical
similarity between MATRIX and the movie with the same name presenting the
system as a choice between a blue pill or a red pill (for truth - no symbolism
intended?). The editorial laments that the state has not weighed the
"obvious public policy and privacy issues (Matrix) raises," and
concludes that Georgia should follow California and Texas and also drop out of
MATRIX. The paper also published an op-ed piece by Vernon Keenan, GBI
Director ("Safeguards prevent abuse of Matrix," 10/16/03), who in a
concise and cogent - if indirect - manner aptly refutes the points raised in
the series of articles and in the editorial.
I have seen a demonstration of MATRIX and also
had an opportunity to discuss with Mississippi's Director of Homeland Security
his concerns that prevented Mississippi from joining. I also found the
demonstration very impressive but not at all scary. On the contrary. I
found it very promising. After all, following the 9-11 atrocities in NYC, the
Pentagon, and Pennsylvania, and a host of terrorists activities against
Americans abroad since then, the law enforcement community was severely
criticized for not sharing information and is now responding by trying to
close that gap both organizationally and communication-wise.
It is therefore important to present these
elements of public debate differently. Mr. Barr may be absolutely
correct in providing a choice between the kind of societies we want to live in
except that the societies he is articulating are out of touch with reality.
Elements of 1984 have always been with us but that does not turn the US into
how close East Germany got to 1984. And the kind of society "America has
always been?" Whether we were or not is irrelevant. We have
never faced the realities of 9-11 and its aftermath and that includes Pearl
Harbor. Neither is the choice one between red and blue pills.
Therefore the choice is not between maximum security and maximum privacy.
A "reasonable society" copes with the challenges it faces by heeding
them without tearing apart its values. And hence the real dilemma is how
to integrate security and privacy - not how to place them at seemingly
contradictory ends.
Any citizen can go on the internet today and get for free
home and business addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, sex offenders registry
(photos) correction information (photos), in-state felony records, and crime
rates by zip-code (mostly unreliable) or incidents (by police jurisdiction if
it displays it). For a fee (ranging from $9.95 to $99.95) it is possible
to obtain (on the net) current and previous addresses (10 year history), phone
numbers, possible aliases, current full name, perform a deceased search, find
information on relatives, roommates, neighbors, marriage and divorces, real
property ownership and value, bankruptcies, tax liens, small claims civil
judgment, state criminal search (over 45 states), nationwide criminal search,
and professional licenses. Professional agencies (law, insurance,
investigative) can find out date of birth, Social Security number, corporate
information (through the Georgia secretary of state) professional licenses,
driver licenses (not from Georgia) and vehicle information (some states).
Through Lexis (with some restrictions) information is available on DBA (doing
business as) filings. Any time we buy a car or a house, seek a loan or a
mortgage, open a credit account or a bank account, we are requested to provide
information that is crossed with other information, such as available credit
history and credit ratings.
In contrast, the GBI is forwarding to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for Matrix the driver's license information (no photo), motor vehicle registration information (both of those are legal to share) and criminal history check (no photo). Interestingly, news media in Georgia have access to personal information such as date of birth and Social Security. Yet the media will protect this intrusion of privacy in the name of the right of the public to know.
In addition, any time we buy a car or a house,
seek a loan or a mortgage, open a credit account, or a bank account, we are
requested to provide some information which is then crossed with other
information such as available credit history and credit ratings. In
contrast, the GBI is forwarding to the Florida Department of law Enforcement
(for MATRIX) driver license information (no photo), motor vehicle registration
information (both of those are legal to share), and criminal history check (no
photo). Interestingly, news media in Georgia have access to personal
information such as date of birth and social security number by Statute
O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(11.2)(A). Yet the media will protect this intrusion
of privacy in the name of the right of the public to know.
The series of articles lead to and the editorial
concludes that Georgia should drop its participation in MATRIX. Yet the AJC
does not offer the citizens of Georgia a better alterative to fight crime and
improve homeland security. When MATRIX was able to demonstrate that it
identified a number (5) of the 19 hijackers and that it was able to link
suspected terrorists to each other along more than a decade of activities
across states, that is impressive. A concerned citizen in Georgia might
be left wondering why wouldn't the government do its very best to protect us
and why is the paper recommending dropping Georgia from a proven investigative
tool. Is it better to protect our privacy but not out security?
The editorial argues that governments cannot be
trusted and that neither could private companies. That does not leave us
with much else to count on but it also does not offer us anything we did not
know before. The issue is not whether they can or cannot be trusted.
If it was we would not have flown planes because some crashed, we would not
have driven cars because tens of thousands of people get killed and injured
every year, we would not have gone to hospitals because some doctors were
convicted of malpractice, we would not have eaten food because some people
have been taken ill from doing so, we would not have taken any medication
because some were poisoned, we would not have gone to universities because
some faculty were not rated well by students, we would have not even read some
newspapers because some writers were proven to be frauds.
As Sir Winston Churchill observed,
"Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that
have been tried from time to time." And some democracies are worse than
others. Indeed the quality of democracy depends in whose hands it is
placed in. By the same token the quality of our life depends on who
manufactures and flies the planes, who manufactures the cars and builds the
roads (and who drives them), who provides medical care (and medicine), who
grows, markets and sells food, who teaches in the universities, how medication
is manufactured and marketed, and who writes/edits in the newspapers.
The way to improve the odds is by introducing checks and balances to provide
for better safeguards. In professional organizations there are standards, in
politics there are elections, the criminal justice system has the law and
courts. None of them are perfect but they certainly aspire to be.
The secret is not to throw MATRIX with the bath
water of concerns for privacy (I am more concerned by telemarketers infringing
on my time or spam and pop-ups on my screen). The solution lies in enabling
law enforcement agencies to do their work effectively and efficiently yet
introduce transparency and accountability so as to prevent and detect abuse.
Perfect systems do not exist but trashing an imperfect system for no
alternative is even worse. And having no system at all is an
impossibility. The citizens of Georgia (and the US) deserve better and should
not penalize progressive law enforcement agencies for doing their jobs and
saving the taxpayers money. They ought to be supported and remain
accountable.
We need to think in terms of how to provide
security and protect privacy and how to protect privacy without infringing on
security. This complexity is a far truer illustration of who we are as a
society, how we cope with our challenges. Getting rid of one system or
the other may leave us with none.
| *An edited version of this article was printed in the Issues Section, "Information Debate At Critical Mass," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 19, 2003. Posted on 10-21-2003, along with other opinions, under the headline: "MATRIX and PRIVACY: Debate over information hits close to home." |