The Information Awareness Office is a Mass surveillance development branch of the United States Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It has a mission to "imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information systems that will counter asymmetric warfare threats by achieving total information awareness".
==Introduction==
The IAO originally had a mission of Total Information Awareness -- amended in May of 2003 to Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA). John Poindexter, former National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan served as the first head of the IAO.
The IAO and its stated mission caught the attention of many conspiracy theorists and civil libertarians, particularly with its use of the pseudo-Freemasonry eye-in-pyramid symbol in its original logo. That logo featured the eye of Providence from the Great Seal of the United States gazing at the Earth, and the Latin motto ''scientia est potentia'', meaning "knowledge is power".
On approximately December 19, 2002, the pyramid logo disappeared without comment from the official IAO webpage, presumably in response to widespread criticism of its Masonic/Illuminati overtones. The biographies of senior staffers also disappeared. For the former page, see the archived mirror [http://web.archive.org/web/20020802012150/www.darpa.mil/iao/][http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm].
The IAO has the stated mission to gather as much information as possible about everyone, in a centralized location, for easy perusal by the United States government, including (though not limited to) Internet activity, credit card purchase histories, airline ticket purchases, automobile rentals, medical records, educational transcripts, driver's licenses, utility bills, tax returns, and any other available data. In essence, the IAO’s goal is to develop the capacity to recreate a personal life history of thoughts and movements for any individual on the planet on demand, which some deem necessary to counter the threat of terrorism. Critics claim the very existence of the IAO completely disregards the concept of individual privacy and liberties. They see the organization as far too invasive and prone to abuse.
The first mention of the IAO in the media came from New York Times reporter John Markoff on February 13, 2002, with few details available as to the agency's role or activities. In the following months, as more and more information emerged about the IAO's full scope, protests among civil libertarians grew over what they see as the IAO's disturbingly Orwellian mission, especially within the larger framework of other invasive homeland security measures and policies implemented by the George W. Bush administration. The integrity of Poindexter as head of the IAO also came under scrutiny, given his conviction on five felony charges for lying to United States Congress and deliberately altering and destroying documents pertaining to the Iran-Contra Affair.
On January 16, 2003, US Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation to halt the activity of the IAO and the Total Information Awareness initiative pending a Congressional review of privacy issues involved. A similar measure introduced by Senator Ron Wyden would bar the IAO from operating within the United States unless specifically authorized to do so by Congress, and would shut the IAO down entirely 60 days after passage, unless either the Pentagon prepared a report assessing the impact of IAO activities on individual privacy and civil liberties, or the President certified the program's research as vital to national security interests.
Congress passed legislation in February of 2003 halting activities of the IAO pending a Congressional report of the office's activities. Action in the US Congress to attempt to halt a specific internal United States Department of Defense project occurs extremely rarely, underscoring the grave threat to civil liberties and privacy that many lawmakers perceive in the Information Awareness Office.
DARPA changed the name of the "Total Information Awareness" program to "Terrorist Information Awareness" on May 20, 2003, emphasizing in its report to Congress that the program is not designed to compile dossiers on US citizens, but rather to gather information on terrorist networks. Despite this name change and reassurance, the description of the program's activities remained essentially the same in the report, and critics continue to see the system as prone to massive Orwellian abuses.
A Senate defense appropriations bill passed unanimously on July 18, 2003 explicitly denies any funding to Terrorist Information Awareness research, which will effectively kill the program if implemented. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3076849.stm] [http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59606,00.html]
The Pentagon office that was developing a vast computerized terrorism surveillance system would be closed and no money could be spent to use those high-tech spying tools against Americans on U.S. soil, House and Senate negotiators have agreed on September 25, 2003.
But they left open the possibility that some or all of the high-powered software under development might be employed by different government offices to gather intelligence from U.S. citizens and others abroad or from foreigners in this country.
== Public protests against the Information Awareness Office ==
Extensive criticism of the IAO in the traditional media and on the Internet has come from both left-wing and right-wing civil libertarians, who see the unprecedented systematic categorization and access to information that it will enable as a grave threat to individual liberties, and another step farther down the slippery slope to a totalitarianism state.
On November 27, 2002, San Francisco Weekly columnist Matt Smith decided to illustrate the perils of information proliferation to John Poindexter personally by publishing a column containing Poindexter's home address and phone number, along with those of his next-door neighbors. The information quickly propagated through the Internet, and protestors created numerous [http://www.warblogging.com/tia/poindexter.php web sites] with this data, including satellite photographs of Poindexter's house.
==IAO research==
As part of the IAO's "Total Information Awareness" program the organization has started to research several new technologies:
Effective Affordable Reusable Speech-to-text, or EARS, has a stated goal of "developing speech-to-text (automatic transcription) technology whose output is substantially richer and much more accurate than currently possible." This program focuses on broadcast and telephone human conversations in multiple languages, necessary for the computerized analysis of the massive amount of phone tapping the IAO now has the right to perform without a legal warrant.
Futures Markets Applied to Prediction, or FutureMAP, intends to "concentrate on market-based techniques for avoiding surprise and predicting future events." It will analyze data from the world's economy in an attempt to predict political instability, threats to national security, and in general every major event in the near future. The IAO's stated strategy for this division states that "the markets must also be sufficiently robust to withstand manipulation", possibly suggesting the intention of altering future events to further the goals of the United States.
Genisys code-names the database system which the IAO plans to implement as the center of its information storage and processing. Currently used database systems designed in the 1980s do not have the capacity for the massive amount of data the IAO plans to gather.
Genoa "provides the structured argumentation, decision-making and corporate memory to rapidly deal with and adjust to dynamic crisis management." In essence, the IAO intended this program to make conclusions and decisions based on available information, incorporating human analysis, corporate history, and a structured set of thinking. The IAO finished this research project in fiscal year 2002; there follows Genoa II, which effectively automates the collaboration between government departments.
Human Identification at a Distance, or HumanID, "is to develop automated biometric identification technologies to detect, recognize and identify humans at great distances." This program intends to have the capability of implementing a face and gait identification system effective up to 150 meters at all times by fiscal year 2004. One such program, developed by Georgia Tech at a cost of nearly $1 million, identifies distinctive patterns in human walks via radar. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2694090,00.html]
Translingual Information Detection, Extraction and Summarization, or TIDES, aims to detect, translate, summarize, and extract information in speech or text in multiple languages. The IAO expected demonstration of machine capabilities and integration into Total Information Awareness systems in 2003.
Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment, or WAE, focuses on developing automated technology capable of predicting terrorist attacks, identifying predictive indicators by examining individual and group behavior in broad environmental context. The WAE will also develop intervention strategies based on the motivation of specific terrorists.
== See also ==
* Civil rights
* Combat Zones That See, or CTS, a project to link up all security cameras citywide and "track everything that moves".
* ECHELON, NSA worldwide digital interception program
* George Orwell
* Government Information Awareness "acts as a framework for US citizens to construct and analyze a comprehensive database on our government".
* LifeLog, "an ontology-based (sub)system that captures, stores, and makes accessible the flow of one person's experience in and interactions with the world in order to support a broad spectrum of associates/assistants and other system capabilities. The objective of this 'LifeLog' concept is to be able to trace the 'threads' of an individual's life in terms of events, states, and relationships."
* Magic Lantern software, the FBI's keystroke logging tool
* Mass surveillance
* Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act UK Legal provision for digital interception
* Thomas Paine
* Thought police
== External links ==
===Source/Introductory/News Links===
*The Information Awareness Office's official homepage used to be published at ''www.darpa.mil/iao''. Historical [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ snapshot views from various dates] of the website are still available through the Internet Archive, even though as of 2005 the original website has been taken down.
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/poindexter.html Speech by John Poindexter providing an overview of the Information Awareness Office]
*[http://news.com.com/2100-1023-980889.html Pentagon database plan hits snag on Hill], by Declan McCullagh, c|net news
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15395-2003May20.html?nav=hptoc_tn Pentagon Defends Surveillance Program] The Washington Post, May 20, 2003
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19272-2003May21.html?nav=hptoc_tn The Pentagon's PR Play] The Washington Post, May 21, 2003.
*K. A. Taipale, [http://www.stlr.org/cite.cgi?volume=5&article=2 Data Mining and Domestic Security: Connecting the Dots to Make Sense of Data],
===Critical View Links (Established Organizations)===
*EFF: [http://www.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/20031003_comments.php Total/Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA): Is It Truly Dead?]
*American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): [http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=14729&c=130 TIA: Total Information Awareness]
*[http://www.cato.org/research/articles/pena-021122.html Critical appraisal of the IAO by the Cato Institute]
*[http://www.sptimes.com/2003/01/24/Opinion/Unfocused_data_mining.shtml Opinion:Unfocused Data-Mining] The St. Petersburg Times, January 24, 2003.
===Critical View Links (Less Recognized)===
*[http://www.warblogging.com/tia/ Articles about TIA/IAO From Warblogging.com]
*[http://propagandamatrix.com/articles/december2004/061204tiaready.htm TIA ready before 9-11]
*http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm
===Proponent View Links===
*[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/137dvufs.asp Weekly Standard: Total Misrepresentation]
*[http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-levin021303.asp National Review: Total Preparedness]
DARPA
Databases in the United States
Surveillance
Lets get rid of the list of media critical of "total info.". Definitely change the name to avoid confusion with actual program addressed in article. Since none of the works question the program itself but rather the Orwellian vision of critics of this program - I think there is inherent POV. User:Lotsofissues 12:32, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) Is the list of books and movies at the end exploring Total Information Awareness appropriate for this article? --User:kwertii ---- yes. those books are warnings to all about the evils of the IAO User:Vera Cruz 05:46 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :I doubt that they are appropriate. They're all against what TIA is obviously for, so you could argue that listing them is not NPOV. (and no, I don't like TIA either). User:Koyaanis Qatsi ::I tried to come up with some counterexamples that would paint TIA in a favorable light, but I couldn't think of any... User:kwertii :::Too bad Poindexter disconnected his phone, maybe he could help us out. ;-) User:Koyaanis Qatsi Lets roadtrip and visit him! User:Vera Cruz 06:58 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :We could invite him to join Wikipedia and provide NPOV balance on this article. ;) --User:Brion VIBBER not listing them would be POV--while the books are POV the fact that they were written and are undeniably related to IAO issues is quite NPOV User:Vera Cruz 05:48 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :Hm. interesting point. User:Koyaanis Qatsi i added in the research sections here, most of the information was on the iao's own website. anybody have anything to add to that? i must say the more i learn the more scared i am. the time is fast approaching when we all must leave the country to escape dictatorship before it is too late. "An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation, we must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland." -- Adolf Hitler User:MarcusAurelius 0619 CST Why don't you go live in Amsterdam for a year and try telling us then how awful the us government is! User:Vera Cruz 13:08 Dec 18, 2002 (UTC) But Amsterdam's really nice. Lovely old churches, classical music, canals, flowers, friendly people... What was your point, exactly? Are you perhaps saying that U.S. citizens shouldn't criticise their government on their own soil? I thought that freedom was the whole point of the U.S. constitution. User:The Anome Freedom of speech? What freedom of speech? User:Vera Cruz =The logo change= OMFG, the IAO blazon is horrifying. User:Kingturtle 01:58 21 May 2003 (UTC) :Scary, isn't it? Big Brother, anybody? -- User:Zoe ::My first thought on seeing it is that the IAO would have to be ''incredibly'' stupid to use this design. Are we ''sure'' it is not a hoax? Why would an agency deliberately use symbols which would inevitably evoke memories of 1984/freemasonic conspiracies/world domination? You'd think they would pretend to be warm, fuzzy, and protective.... -- User:Someone else 02:56 21 May 2003 (UTC) :::True, I can't find the image at http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ User:Kingturtle 02:59 21 May 2003 (UTC) ::::it's true; they pulled it after public backlash. I did see it there just after the program was announced. User:Koyaanis Qatsi P.S. another P.R. stunt: the Total Information Awareness program is now the "Terrorist Information Awareness" program. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=4&u=/nm/20030520/tc_nm/attack_privacy_dc :::The original Total Information Awareness logo can also be seen at the net archive, at http://web.archive.org/web/20021027211118/http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ ::::This link no longer works. The memoryhole.org reference below goes to a web page that does not match the format of the main darpa.mil in late 2002 as documented at archive.org. Not taking a stand, just noting the peculiar. -wr According to [http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm], they deleted the logo. See [http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao/iao-original.htm http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao/iao-original.htm] for what their website supposedly originally looked like. -- User:Zoe :I just wondered if anyone had seen it actually on their website (is memoryhole.org a reliable source? I have/had no idea.) But if KQ saw it on the actual site, I guess it's just a case of REALLY bad public relations rather than hoax! -- User:Someone else 03:06 21 May 2003 (UTC) I saw the site when it first came up, that was the logo! User:Pizza Puzzle The ACLU has a page on this peculiar logo change as well: [http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=14729&c=130 The much-discussed original and the new, less frightening "sanitized" version]. I also saw the original logo myself at the official site at the time. --User:Vinsci 16:10, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) =...= Well, the Illuminati only have a limited degree of influence here in Wikipedia... The whole concept of a free, self-sustaining, god-forbid DEMOCRATIC online encyclopaedia goes directly against the agenda of most groups that could be described as 'Illuminati' (such as the Vrill society)... J.A.M.M ---- I put an NPOV dispute warning on this (it's accurate, I'm disputing the neutrality right here) because of the second paragraph and also the end of the first: is it really necessary to bring up Iran-Contra? --User:Calieber 17:23, Nov 19, 2003 (UTC) :I think so. It's Poindexter's main claim to fame - most people, if they've heard of him at all, will know him in connection with Iran-Contra. It's not really disputed that he was involved, so how's that POV? The public controversy surrounding his appointment centered on his role in Iran-Contra, so that must also be mentioned.. User:Kwertii 19:36, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::It's what we said, not how we said it. Well, actually, you're not wrong, so I guess in part it is how we said it: ::''former National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan and chief architect of the Iran-Contra Affair.'' ::This makes these each seem like roles he's had in the same way -- "first he was hired in National Security, then they transferred him to Illegal Covert Operations." Except in my most cynical moments I'm inclined to believe it was the national security part of his résumé that recommended him for this job, not his criminal activities. I don't think removing (or at least moving) the Iran-''contra'' reference would detract from the article. You clearly disagree, so I'm not changing it. However, if it is needless, its very presence could be taken as POV. ::Perhaps a more blatantly neutral phrasing, something like "controversy over Poindexter's integrity followed his appointment to the [IAO] position due to his role in the Iran-Contra scandal," which is what's in John Poindexter, would blunt that impression somewhat. --User:Calieber 20:01, Nov 19, 2003 (UTC) ---- Since no one else got off their butts and did it, I edited the article to rephrase the items identified as NPOV, and removed the NPOV warning. Also, please see Talk:LifeLog. == "implented" typo == Under Genisys, "implented" = "implemented". Great article, by the way. Seems like the IAO homepage has vanished from darpa.mil. Anybody know where it went? Google won't help, neither will the darpa search. =Joke?= Is this article a joke? Does this really exist? It sounds like something out of a bad novel, not reality. -User:Branddobbe 02:33, Nov 13, 2004 (UTC) :No, it's not a joke. Please see mass surveillance as well as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Mass_surveillance articles that link to it]. And that's not the full story. --User:Vinsci 16:10, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
#REDIRECT Information Awareness Office
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Information_Awareness_Office:
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Information_Awareness_Office
Information_awareness_office
Information Awareness Office
Information Awareness Office
Lets get rid of the list of media critical of "total info.". Definitely change the name to avoid confusion with actual program addressed in article. Since none of the works question the program itself but rather the Orwellian vision of critics of this program - I think there is inherent POV. User:Lotsofissues 12:32, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) Is the list of books and movies at the end exploring Total Information Awareness appropriate for this article? --User:kwertii ---- yes. those books are warnings to all about the evils of the IAO User:Vera Cruz 05:46 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :I doubt that they are appropriate. They're all against what TIA is obviously for, so you could argue that listing them is not NPOV. (and no, I don't like TIA either). User:Koyaanis Qatsi ::I tried to come up with some counterexamples that would paint TIA in a favorable light, but I couldn't think of any... User:kwertii :::Too bad Poindexter disconnected his phone, maybe he could help us out. ;-) User:Koyaanis Qatsi Lets roadtrip and visit him! User:Vera Cruz 06:58 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :We could invite him to join Wikipedia and provide NPOV balance on this article. ;) --User:Brion VIBBER not listing them would be POV--while the books are POV the fact that they were written and are undeniably related to IAO issues is quite NPOV User:Vera Cruz 05:48 Dec 17, 2002 (UTC) :Hm. interesting point. User:Koyaanis Qatsi i added in the research sections here, most of the information was on the iao's own website. anybody have anything to add to that? i must say the more i learn the more scared i am. the time is fast approaching when we all must leave the country to escape dictatorship before it is too late. "An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation, we must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland." -- Adolf Hitler User:MarcusAurelius 0619 CST Why don't you go live in Amsterdam for a year and try telling us then how awful the us government is! User:Vera Cruz 13:08 Dec 18, 2002 (UTC) But Amsterdam's really nice. Lovely old churches, classical music, canals, flowers, friendly people... What was your point, exactly? Are you perhaps saying that U.S. citizens shouldn't criticise their government on their own soil? I thought that freedom was the whole point of the U.S. constitution. User:The Anome Freedom of speech? What freedom of speech? User:Vera Cruz =The logo change= OMFG, the IAO blazon is horrifying. User:Kingturtle 01:58 21 May 2003 (UTC) :Scary, isn't it? Big Brother, anybody? -- User:Zoe ::My first thought on seeing it is that the IAO would have to be ''incredibly'' stupid to use this design. Are we ''sure'' it is not a hoax? Why would an agency deliberately use symbols which would inevitably evoke memories of 1984/freemasonic conspiracies/world domination? You'd think they would pretend to be warm, fuzzy, and protective.... -- User:Someone else 02:56 21 May 2003 (UTC) :::True, I can't find the image at http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ User:Kingturtle 02:59 21 May 2003 (UTC) ::::it's true; they pulled it after public backlash. I did see it there just after the program was announced. User:Koyaanis Qatsi P.S. another P.R. stunt: the Total Information Awareness program is now the "Terrorist Information Awareness" program. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=4&u=/nm/20030520/tc_nm/attack_privacy_dc :::The original Total Information Awareness logo can also be seen at the net archive, at http://web.archive.org/web/20021027211118/http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ ::::This link no longer works. The memoryhole.org reference below goes to a web page that does not match the format of the main darpa.mil in late 2002 as documented at archive.org. Not taking a stand, just noting the peculiar. -wr According to [http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao-logo.htm], they deleted the logo. See [http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao/iao-original.htm http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/iao/iao-original.htm] for what their website supposedly originally looked like. -- User:Zoe :I just wondered if anyone had seen it actually on their website (is memoryhole.org a reliable source? I have/had no idea.) But if KQ saw it on the actual site, I guess it's just a case of REALLY bad public relations rather than hoax! -- User:Someone else 03:06 21 May 2003 (UTC) I saw the site when it first came up, that was the logo! User:Pizza Puzzle The ACLU has a page on this peculiar logo change as well: [http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=14729&c=130 The much-discussed original and the new, less frightening "sanitized" version]. I also saw the original logo myself at the official site at the time. --User:Vinsci 16:10, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) =...= Well, the Illuminati only have a limited degree of influence here in Wikipedia... The whole concept of a free, self-sustaining, god-forbid DEMOCRATIC online encyclopaedia goes directly against the agenda of most groups that could be described as 'Illuminati' (such as the Vrill society)... J.A.M.M ---- I put an NPOV dispute warning on this (it's accurate, I'm disputing the neutrality right here) because of the second paragraph and also the end of the first: is it really necessary to bring up Iran-Contra? --User:Calieber 17:23, Nov 19, 2003 (UTC) :I think so. It's Poindexter's main claim to fame - most people, if they've heard of him at all, will know him in connection with Iran-Contra. It's not really disputed that he was involved, so how's that POV? The public controversy surrounding his appointment centered on his role in Iran-Contra, so that must also be mentioned.. User:Kwertii 19:36, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::It's what we said, not how we said it. Well, actually, you're not wrong, so I guess in part it is how we said it: ::''former National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan and chief architect of the Iran-Contra Affair.'' ::This makes these each seem like roles he's had in the same way -- "first he was hired in National Security, then they transferred him to Illegal Covert Operations." Except in my most cynical moments I'm inclined to believe it was the national security part of his résumé that recommended him for this job, not his criminal activities. I don't think removing (or at least moving) the Iran-''contra'' reference would detract from the article. You clearly disagree, so I'm not changing it. However, if it is needless, its very presence could be taken as POV. ::Perhaps a more blatantly neutral phrasing, something like "controversy over Poindexter's integrity followed his appointment to the [IAO] position due to his role in the Iran-Contra scandal," which is what's in John Poindexter, would blunt that impression somewhat. --User:Calieber 20:01, Nov 19, 2003 (UTC) ---- Since no one else got off their butts and did it, I edited the article to rephrase the items identified as NPOV, and removed the NPOV warning. Also, please see Talk:LifeLog. == "implented" typo == Under Genisys, "implented" = "implemented". Great article, by the way. Seems like the IAO homepage has vanished from darpa.mil. Anybody know where it went? Google won't help, neither will the darpa search. =Joke?= Is this article a joke? Does this really exist? It sounds like something out of a bad novel, not reality. -User:Branddobbe 02:33, Nov 13, 2004 (UTC) :No, it's not a joke. Please see mass surveillance as well as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Mass_surveillance articles that link to it]. And that's not the full story. --User:Vinsci 16:10, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Information awareness office
#REDIRECT Information Awareness Office
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