the growing industry of information companies in this country and others, Hank Ashe started it with a company called seisint, seismic intellence. Secure flight is a current one used by the airline ind. to track customers, it used be C.A.P.S. It's predesessor I.D.ed the hijackers. Poindexter was in charge of a "total information awareness", a government program, but later taken off.
Something that should be understood is that this is not just information about flying or criminal records, it is a tool of the private sector which is compiled for insurance, loans, credit reports, It contains hundreds of millions of people's information who do or have lived in the US and most definitely many of those who never have.
The patriot act has stood on top of the shoulders of the US government's programs for total information awareness which was built on top of private sector companies like seisint, axium, choice point and lexus nexus as well as police information, these were founded on Hank Asher's idea to consolidate and distribute information. Something that might be inquired is why aren't the schools of today considering these issues in classrooms?
