The Afterlife of Total Information Awareness and Edward Snowden’s NSA Leaks

Abstract

Although the U.S. Congress axed the Information Awareness Office (IAO) and dismantled Total Information Awareness (TIA) in September 2003, TIA did not really cease to exist. Five years later in March 2008, a Wall Street Journal article reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been building essentially the same system as TIA for its Terrorist Surveillance Program and other U.S. governmental agencies.

By finally admitting a wrong, a nation does not destroy its integrity but, rather, reinforces the sincerity of its commitment to the Constitution and hence to its people.

— U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh (October 10, 1990)

Congress gave me the authority to use necessary force to protect the American people, but it didn’t prescribe the tactics.

— President George W. Bush (January 23, 2006)

Technology is a two-edged sword for the intelligence community. For instance, with biology, there could be a time in the not distant future when teenagers can design biological components just as they do computer viruses today.

— ODNI Director of Science and Technology

Steven Nixon (2008)

It’s important to recognize that you can’t have 100 % security and also then have 100 % privacy and zero inconvenience.

— President Barack Obama (June 7, 2013)

We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It’s the only way to protect everyone’s civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.

— Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (June 7, 2013)

Being a patriot means knowing when to protect your country, when to protect your Constitution, when to protect your countrymen from the violations and encroachments of adversaries.

— Edward Snowden (May 2014)