MATRIX UPDATES

Last updated:
July 11, 2005

Click here for MATRIX background and information. Click here to take action against MATRIX.

NOT SO FAST...

07-10-05 Police Still Using Matrix-Type Database despite massive opposition and the withdrawal of government funding. Some authorities apparently think errors, violations of rights, and invasions of privacy are less important than their own fishing expeditions.

04-27-05 Florida Planning Son of Matrix The bad news isn't entirely unexpected, but it was even quicker and badder than many might have believed. One battle was fought and won, but another must be mounted if we intend to preserve what little privacy and presumption of innocence we have left.

WE DID IT!

04-15-05 Controversial terror database Matrix shuts down The abomination has finally succumbed to a lack of support, financial and otherwise. But fair warning: Just as TIA was stealthily replaced by MATRIX, there's doubtless another resurrection in the works. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and, apparently, the price of privacy as well.

03-09-05 State police drop anti-terror project Cops have decided the program doesn't offer enough value without more states participating. It's too bad the fact the program was unduly invasive and threatening to civil liberties comes in a distant second to whether or not the cops were getting sufficient value from those violations.
03-07-05 Mich. State Police Drop Out of 'Matrix' Apparently, the fact that there are privacy issues is bothering the authorities in Michigan. Oh, yes, that and the fact that almost nobody else is playing along anymore...
09-28-04 Senate Bill Proposes Anti-Terror Database Looks like MATRIX has company...or perhaps even a clandestinely planned replacement.
09-22-04 MATRIX database (oh, boy) relies on clerical accuracy If you think perfect surveillance is scary, imagine the flawed surveillance MATRIX represents!
September/October, 2004 Issue Mining the Matrix The founder of MATRIX defends the program and honestly seems to believe that the loss of privacy is worth it if we're made just a little bit safer as a result.
08-29-04 Caught in the MATRIX  Even a man who sees the point of such as MATRIX objects to the system as it is.
08-18-04 Fighting to keep Matrix off our backs Somebody's got to do it!
08-05-04 COMMENTARY Michigan should disconnect from MATRIX system And so should the other four states remaining in the program.
08-03-04 ACLU sues to block Michigan State Police from Matrix database Now if only the group will carry the process through to the other MATRIX test states!
07-22-04 MATRIX rejection analyzed Utah leaders' decision to drop out of the controversial MATRIX anti-terrorism project was a result of 'miscommunication,' according to the state's former top cop. On the other hand, maybe residents of Utah are lucky enough to have at least some politicians and authorities who recognize MATRIX for the unconstitutional nightmare that it is.
07-14-04 LexisNexis To Buy Seisint For $775 Million (Aren't registered at to see Washington Post articles? No problem! Click here to bypass compulsory registration.) One of the biggest and best known database repositories is purchasing one of the most invasive and frightening applications ever created. News doesn't come much badder than that.
07-09-04 Welcome to the Matrix: Inside the Government’s Secret, Corporate-Run Mega-Database Despite ongoing public and activist outcry, the five states remaining int he MATRIX test program show no sign of curbing their involvement.
06-18-04 MATRIX idea may be alive in Utah Bad news for Utah residents who, for one brief and shining moment, apparently had elected representatives who actually cared about their civil liberties.
05-24-04 Privacy Villain of the Week: Homeland MATRIX It turns out so-called civilian program not only gov't funded but also gov't run
05-24-04 Feds Offer to Mend MATRIX by finding a way for states to circumvent their own laws preventing some of them from participating.
05-20-04 Matrix Database Measured 'Terrorism Quotient' and the proof that Seisint did so also shows that MATRIX is not a private program but yet another federal attempt to invade our lives and abrogate our liberties.
05-20-04 "Data-mining for terrorists sparks US privacy fears" is called a "chilling invasion of privacy" by the ACLU
04-09-04 Database search system debated The Ohio State Highway Patrol insists it needs MATRIX to make its job easier.
03-26-04 MATRIX in Utah Deleted - For Now Officials say the database doesn't have "adequate oversight"
03-18-04 Michigan May Withdraw From Terror Database Michigan is worries about funding first, privacy second.
03-17-04 MATRIX is a Good Thing, Officials Say Doublespeak alert! Doublespeak alert!
03-15-04 Report: Ohio Sold Records to Florida Anti-Terror Database Company for $50,000 Now we know how little government officials truly value our lives.
03-15-04 Privacy Fears Erode Support for a Network to Fight Crime And then there were five...
03-15-04 A Dual-Edged Sword: Providing Information, Stealing Privacy Let the bloodletting begin.
03-12-04 Two More States Withdraw From Controversial Database Program Eight down, five to go...
03-09-04 MATRIX Expands to Wisconsin Authorities there reportedly signed on to the MATRIX program in mid-February.
03-01-04 Government's Pursuit of Personal Data Lives On MATRIX is only one - albeit the largest at the moment - of the programs designed to pick up where the now defunct Total Information Awareness program left off.
02-19-04 ACLU Seeks Answers from Ohio Attorney General About MATRIX Data-Mining Program A request was filed under the Freedom of Information Act in October, and again this month, requesting details of Ohio's participation in the controversial database system.
02-15-04 Pick Your Pill Lady Liberty writes about MATRIX and some of the many reasons for opposition.
02-12-04 Spy, Spy Again Commentary on MATRIX as well as access to a variety of documents obtained by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act
02-06-04 Crime-Fighting Database Raises Privacy Concerns in Michigan Police want MATRIX; Secretary of State warns it might violate state privacy law.
02-06-04 PA Helps Test-Drive Database on Crime The PA State Police say MATRIX is a crime-fighting tool.
02-06-04 One More Slap at Prying Eye Half of MATRIX test states are out
02-04-04 Ohio Joins Multistate Antiterror Database Criminal records will be shared; other records are under consideration.
02-04-04 Privacy Hero of the Month: Utah Gov. Olene Walker who pulled the state's participation in MATRIX when it was learned the state's previous governor had signed up in secret
02-04-04 State Looks at Joining Controversial Terrorism Database Citizens of Tennessee could be the next to suffer the violation of their rights under the MATRIX
02-02-04 Several States Embrace MATRIX Others, however, aren't so sure.
02-02-04 Unload The Matrix The Salt Lake City Tribune urges state officials to pull out of any participation in MATRIX.
01-29-04 Dossier Program Alarms Utahns It seems that Utah's former governor signed the state up for MATRIX, and lawmakers who are just now learning about the program don't seem pleased.
01-23-04 Personal Data: Crime Suspects Enter the 'Matrix' Supporters deny accusations, but evidence suggests accusers are right.
01-21-04 ACLU: New Evidence Shows States' Database Replicates Pentagon Program Total Information Awaress is clearly back, but this time in civilian hands.
01-21-04 Admitted Former Drug Smuggler Off Terror Database Project Some call MATRIX inventor a PATRIOT, others a criminal.
01-13-04 From Drugs to Databases tracks the evolution of MATRIX creator Hank Asher from drug runner to "patriot" as well as notes law enforcement's praise for the system.
01-07-04 The Safeguards Needed for Government Data Mining
01-04-04 State Seeks Link With Crime Data Network Even as civil rights activists work to foil MATRIX in test states, the state of Tennessee is asking to come on board with the datbase program.
01-02-04 Police Database Called Intrusive by Rights Group Police claim they need the system to help them fight crime; civil liberties advocates say the system is ripe with the potential for misuse.
11-23-03 Fear Real Life MATRIX Will Be Monitoring You New York says it hasn't transferred records yet, and won't if MATRIX isn't federally funded.
11-05-03 FindLaw Commentary: Why We Should Fear the MATRIX An attorney and law professor writes on the dangers to liberty representated by MATRIX.
10-30-03 ACLU Press Release: Defunct Big Brother Spying Program Resurfaces as "Little Brother" in Seven States The ACLU's announcement that it has made requests for more information on MATRIX under the Freedom of Information Act from participating states. An Issue Brief was also released, detailing problems with the program prototype in Utah and Florida.
10-26-03 Tampa Bay Online: Ohio Not Rushing to Join Antiterrorism Database Officials are quick to say they've not committed to the database program, but that Ohio Governor Bob Taft "supports the pilot project" as well as continued exploration into a full-fledged program.

Some time ago, the Department of Defense proposed a program it called Total Information Awareness, or TIA, which would have involved the creation of a huge database containing a substantial collection of private information about every American citizen. A loud public outcry against the program and its violation of civil liberties was almost immediate. The Pentagon briefly changed the name of the program to Terrorism Information Awareness, apparently thinking that Americans would find it more palatable by another name. They were wrong. Congress eventually took action to prohibit funding for TIA or comparable programs, and the man who championed the project - retired Admiral John Poindexter - resigned in disgrace.

The MATRIX database is the brainchild of a Florida entrepeneur (who, incidentally, is a former drug runner and government informant). The database is already in use in Florida, but has now been backed by the federal government for potential national implementation. Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have ponied up money to test an expansion of the program across state lines. Six states are currently participating (of the original 13, several have withdrawn over financial and/or civil liberty considerations). The backing is well thought out: one Associated Press report indicates that the government prefers private ownership of a citizens' database this time around because, if the government doesn't own the files, it's not subject to violations of the 1974 Privacy Act.

MATRIX was "initiated in response to the increased need for timely information sharing and exchange of terrorism-related information" between law enforcement agencies. But according to the MATRIX Overview page on the website constructed by the private company creating the program, the database isn't limited to terrorist activity, but to "other criminal activity information" as well.

Far more than criminal - or even arrest - records are being utilized. The Atlanta Journal- Constitution has reported that the database "is expanding in size and power" and notes that "privacy advocates, officials in two states, and a competing data vendor have branded MATRIX as playing fast and loose with Americans' private details." An article in Washington Technology quotes an official at the US Bureau of Justice Affairs as saying that MATRIX will use data to "identify potential terrorists." To that end, MATRIX is gathering data from a variety of private and public sources to include information that ranges from Driver's License data to marriage and divorce records to credit history and more.

As a result of the vast amounts of data involved concerning innocent Americans, The Legal Reader has expressed its concerns for the attending loss of civil liberties, and the Southeastern Legal Foundation openly pleaded with Georgia to stop MATRIX access to driver information (Georgia has since withdrawn from MATRIX after citing privacy concerns). To add insult to injury, although officials involved with MATRIX claim the database will be secure and available to "authorized personnel only," the potential for abuse is very real, and the damage that could be done with the immense quantities of data present in the MATRIX files is incomprehensible. In fact, the state of Florida has already fired one authorized individual for misuse of the system. Despite that incident and the many other concerns, there are rumors that the CIA - forbidden from spying in the US - may soon be added to the list of "authorized personnel."

The ACLU is working on the MATRIX issue already, and your support would doubtless be appreciated (Visit the ACLU's MATRIX page for updates and details. You might also consider sending the DOJ a Complaint About [a] Violation of Your Civil Rights or Civil Liberties and contacting the White House to let the President know MATRIX goes far too far to be a legitimate tool in the War on Terrorism.

Learn about MATRIX, and then pick up your phone and call a talk show. As you protest MATRIX, tell listeners how they can learn more for themselves. Contact your local newspaper, and tell them you've got a news tip; offer to provide information for reporters or editorial columnists.

Last, but certainly not least, tell everyone you know about MATRIX and ask them to visit this page. As other groups get involved in the MATRIX Revolution, contact information will be added here, so visit regularly yourself. And never forget that, just as Thomas Paine said, "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." Take action today!

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