National Security Branch Analysis Center

The National Security Branch Analysis Center (NSBAC) is possibly the 2007 reincarnation of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program proposed by the Bush administration in 2002 and rejected by Congress in 2003. TIA reappeared in various forms or as part of other personal surveillance data mining programs: ADVISE (2005-2006 or perhaps earlier), MATRIX (2003, terminated 2005), Novel Intelligence from Massive Data (NIMD) in 2002, and TALON (2002-present).

In September, 2009, Ryan Singel reported, "Headquartered in Crystal City, Virginia, just outside Washington, the FBI’s National Security Branch Analysis Center (NSAC) maintains a hodgepodge of data sets packed with more than 1.5 billion government and private-sector records about citizens and foreigners, the documents show, bringing the government closer than ever to implementing the Total Information Awareness system first dreamed up by the Pentagon in the days following the Sept. 11 attacks. Such a system, if successful, would correlate data from scores of different sources to automatically identify terrorists and other threats before they could strike. The FBI is seeking to quadruple the known staff of the program."

Funding for FY2008
The FBI is seeking $12 million  for its Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force to set up the National Security Branch Analysis Center beginning October 1, 2007 (FY2008). The Center "will include 90,000 square feet of office space and a total of 59 staff, including 23 contractors and five FBI agents. Documents predict the NSAC will include six billion records by FY2012. This amounts to 20 separate 'records' for each man, woman and child in the United States. The 'universe of subjects will expand exponentially' with the expanded role of the NSAC, the Justice Department documents assert," the House Committee on Science and Technology wrote in a June 5, 2007, letter to the Government Accountability Office.

"What information will be contained in the 'records' it collects, whether the 'records' of U.S. citizens will be included in its database, how this data will be employed and how the FBI plans to ensure that the data is not misused or abused in any way," Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), the chair and ranking member of the oversight panel of the House Science and Technology Committee, asked.

Background: National Security Branch
In accordance with the recommendation of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction and President George W. Bush's memorandum of June 28, 2005, in August 2005, the FBI created the new National Security Branch (NSB) (See FAQ.) and consolidated Executive Assistant Director (EAD) positions for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence and for Intelligence into a single EAD for National Security.

Gary M. Bald, who was EAD for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence, was made NSB head. Bald was to lead the" FBI official responsible for integrating the FBI's national security mission with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Intelligence Community."


 * Note: In 2005, Bald was designated as the first Director of National Security Service, not National Security Branch.

In August 2005, FBI Director Robert Mueller said that the NSB "is the next step in the evolution of the FBI's intelligence capabilities ... to further the integration of our intelligence collection and analysis capabilities."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Bush administration warrantless wiretapping
 * Defense-wide Information Assurance Program (DIAP) (web)
 * George W. Bush's domestic spying
 * Government Information Awareness
 * Information Assurance Technology Analysis Center (web)
 * information warfare
 * intelligence community
 * National Security Agency
 * Patriot Act
 * Total Information Awareness
 * U.S. Department of Homeland Security
 * VICTORY Act

2006

 * Nico Pitney, "National Journal: Total Information Awareness ‘Stopped In Name Only’," Think Progress, February 24, 2006.

2007

 * Justin Rood, "Exclusive: FBI Data Mining Program Raises Eyebrows in Congress," The Blotter/ABC News, June 12, 2007.
 * Jesse Lee, "Science Subcommittee Asks GAO to Investigate FBI Data Mining," The Gavel, June 12, 2007.
 * "Gov't Data Mining Program Raises Eyebrows. Bureau Wants Computer Database To Track Terror Cells; Two Congressman Want Investigation," Associated Press (CBS News), June 13, 2007.
 * "FBI Looking To Control Terror Using Data Mining," Sci-Tech Today.com, June 13, 2007.
 * Matt Corley, "FBI Seeking To Create 6 Billion Record Database Similar To Total Information Awareness," Think Progress, June 13, 2007.
 * Preston Gralla, "FBI's newest privacy invader: Bigger and badder than ever," ComputerWorld.com, June 14, 2007.
 * "Error-filled FBI Terror Watch List Swells to Over a Half Million Names - With Luck, Playing the Percentages, It May Now Identify Actual Terrorists," Bad Cop News, June 14, 2007.

2009

 * Ryan Singel, Newly Declassified Files Detail Massive FBI Data-Mining Project, Wired, September 23, 2009.