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Project GUARDIAN - Events

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The Politics of Law and Identity and Identification in Context of the War on Terrorism

On January 28, 2004, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies co-hosted its second event with the Heritage Foundation. Intelligence and privacy experts met at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, VA to participate in a panel concerning the protection of anonymity in new laws and technologies designed to defeat terrorism.

The distinguished panel included:

Paul Rosenzweig, Senior Legal Research Fellow in the center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation;

Jay Stanley, Communications Director of the Technology and Liberty Program of the American Civil Liberties Union;

Kim Taipale, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy; and

Daniel Gallington, Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute, where he is PROJECT GUARDIAN study director. He has served in senior policy and intelligence positions at the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and was General Counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

The panel discussed a number of contemporary and controversial issues, including:

The concept of anonymity, its historical and Constitutional relevance, as well as its importance to American society;

The use and efficacy of various methods of positive and negative identification;

The evolution of data mining technologies;

Potential technological solutions to preserve privacy and anonymity (some discussion of this can be found at the Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy;

Developing a national ID card that would preserve anonymity and enhance domestic security;

The capability of government's oversight functions to preserve privacy; and

Congress' role in distilling the varied opinions of the American public regarding privacy and security concerns to an actionable consensus.

For additional information please view Dan Gallington's opening presentation, and Kim Taipale's presentation, "Identification Systems and Domestic Security: Who's Who in Whoville."

The Potomac Institute's PROJECT GUARDIAN will continue to debate these types of issues as it examines the whole spectrum of science and technology policy issues associated with protecting civil liberties, while improving the use of technology to combat terrorism. PROJECT GUARDIAN provides a public forum to examine the delicate, but necessary balance between civil liberties and national security.