Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Total Information Awareness: Terrorist Monitor or Big Brother?



Under the Bush administration, we have entered into what some might say constitutes George Orwells nightmarish society portrayed in 1984. Big Brother IS watching, and it is through the disguise of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, a program recognized in 2002 as an attempt to “stop” and “seek out” all acts of terrorism and suspicious terrorist activities.

TIA was created under the guidance of John Poindexter and its purpose was to monitor and sift through the public. A massive database composed of every detail of every registered citizen, Total Information Awareness rests in the hands of the government, a loaded gun pointed at our very freedom. Anything found in the database can and will be used against you legally in the court of law.

When citizens began to realize that there was a severe infringement on personal space and their very constitution occurring, they were quick to bring TIA to attention. Facing the heat, the Total Information Awareness program morphed into the Terrorist Information Awareness Program, under the pretense that its sole existence was to eradicate all acts of potential terrorism. In 2003, TIA was defunded by congress because of the controversial attention brought to it but was then picked up by several other “counterterrorism intelligence” programs.

Total Information Awareness and its fathers in the political world (such as the Patriot Act) have become the new cornerstones to American security, or what many deem American surveillance, a vigil maintained by an overbearing government. Or should I say… a big brother?

3 comments:

Todd said...

well, this is pretty scary

Christina Kho said...

interesting blog.

....J.Michael Robertson said...

People need to be reminded continually of the many angles from which freedom can be attacked.