Information Awareness Office

The Information Awareness Office (IAO) was established by the United States <a href="/facts/Defense_Advanced_Research_Projects_Agency/Uf9sarhT">Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency</a> (DARPA) in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying <a href="/facts/Surveillance/hJhvWdSJ">surveillance</a> and information technology to track and monitor terrorists and other <a href="/facts/Asymmetric_warfare/15hIxMFY">asymmetric threats</a> to U.S. <a href="/facts/National_security/DlmpehRa">national security</a> by achieving "<a href="/facts/Total_Information_Awareness/D6KfRJ74">Total Information Awareness</a>" (TIA).
It was achieved by creating enormous computer databases to gather and store the personal information of everyone in the United States, including personal e-mails, social networks, credit card records, phone calls, medical records, and numerous other sources, without any requirement for a <a href="/facts/Search_warrant/Dn4yseJt">search warrant</a>. The information was then analyzed for suspicious activities, connections between individuals, and "threats". The program also included funding for <a href="/facts/Surveillance/hJhvWdSJ">biometric surveillance</a> technologies that could identify and track individuals using surveillance cameras and other methods.
Following public criticism that the technology's development and deployment could lead to a <a href="/facts/Mass_surveillance/GgAEJtso">mass surveillance</a> system, the IAO was defunded by <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">Congress</a> in 2003. However, several IAO projects continued to be funded under different names, as revealed by <a href="/facts/Edward_Snowden/yRDLtpH9">Edward Snowden</a> during the course of the <a href="/facts/2013_mass_surveillance_disclosures/FaqSXLnC">2013 mass surveillance disclosures</a>.

Information Awareness Office open-in-new

Information Awareness Office