Seen at 27B/6:
Introduced by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin), the Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act would mandate that agencies submit information to Congress about:
- the nature of their data mining activities
- the technology involved
- the data sources used
- the chances for success
- the ability to meet privacy and civil liberty thresholds
Agencies would have to file reports on their data-mining operations at least once a year, and the reports would be made available to the public.
The bill has apparently been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is advancing to the full senate.
It sounds like a good idea to me, as a bit of sunshine could go a long way towards combating the corruption that’s spread in Washington in the past 6 years. However, I do hope the congresscritters are considering potential unintended consequences, including the expense of extra bureaucracy and the need to balance privacy and security concerns.