The New Thought Police: The NSA Wants to Know How You Think— Maybe Even What You Think

[Orwellian_Ghost]

The New Thought Police:
The NSA Wants to Know How You Think—
Maybe Even What You Think
by James Bamford

The National Security Agency (NSA) is developing a tool that George Orwell's Thought Police might have found useful: an artificial intelligence system designed to gain insight into what people are thinking.



Getting Aquaint

Known as Aquaint, which stands for "Advanced QUestion Answering for INTelligence," the project was run for many years by John Prange, an NSA scientist at the Advanced Research and Development Activity. Headquartered in Room 12A69 in the NSA's Research and Engineering Building at 1 National Business Park, ARDA was set up by the agency to serve as a sort of intelligence community DARPA, the place where former Reagan national security advisor John Poindexter's infamous Total Information Awareness project was born. Later named the Disruptive Technology Office, ARDA has now morphed into the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).

A sort of national laboratory for eavesdropping and other spycraft, IARPA will move into its new 120,000-square-foot home in 2009. The building will be part of the new M Square Research Park in College Park, Maryland. A mammoth two million-square-foot, 128-acre complex, it is operated in collaboration with the University of Maryland. "Their budget is classified, but I understand it's very well funded," said Brian Darmody, the University of Maryland's assistant vice president of research and economic development, referring to IARPA. "They'll be in their own building here, and they're going to grow. Their mission is expanding."

If IARPA is the spy world's DARPA, Aquaint may be the reincarnation of Poindexter's TIA. After a briefing by NSA Director Michael Hayden, Vice President Dick Cheney, and CIA Director George Tenet of some of the NSA's data mining programs in July 2003, Senator Jay Rockefeller IV, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a concerned letter to Cheney. "As I reflected on the meeting today," he said, "John Poindexter's TIA project sprung to mind, exacerbating my concern regarding the direction the administration is moving with regard to security, technology, and surveillance."



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/police.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. Yah - good luck with that, guys.

[ananda]

2. Bizarre

I'd be glad to tell them exactly
what I'm thinking face to face.

[midnight]

3. The fact that many women reserve the special right to change

their minds, we probably will be costing the agency much more than those who stick with their original intent. I second-a good luck with that.

[arcadian]

4. Let's play a game. Can you spot the secured compartmentalized information facility in College Park?

From space.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=38.98153~-76.936355&style=h&lvl=14&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=21715653&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

Best Guesses.

[Confusious]

5. If it got an insight into my thoughts

I think it would either go insane or kill itself.

[Initech]

6. To quote a Frank Zappa song - "Who are the brain police?".

[razors edge]

7. To bad they can't afford a mirror.

[arcadian]

8. Center for Advanced Study of Language

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qgw4kn8kpkv9&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=21716184&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

[Orwellian_Ghost]

9. Hal

The NSA would essentially like to create the spy-agency equivalent of "HAL 9000," the computer in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey that converses with the astronaut David Bowman (played by Keir Dullea, above).

[Ghost in the Machine]

10. I'll make it easy for them.... here's what I think...

Dear NSA,

You are more than welcome to kiss my big white ass. You suck! You would serve humanity much better by just jumping out of the window in the building that you're in right now. Fuck off and die, assholes.


Thanks,

Ghost

[The2ndWheel]

13. I think as long as they knew that, they'd be fine with it

What the information is doesn't matter. That they would have the information is the important part.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. And now that we are in "control" of the government, why is this going on?

[Strong Atheist]

12. They will find a LOT of:

SEX food SEX SEX food tired SEX SEX

[hunter]

14. Take a ride down the mirrored hallway of madness and broken glass...

You don't even know what's in your own trunk!
And you know what?
I think you're afraid to find out!