ACLU Releases New Report on Government “Fusion Centers”

Civil liberties experts argue for less secrecy, more monitoring and oversight
For Immediate Release: December 12, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union today released a report outlining serious concerns about new institutions called fusion centers.  These state, local and regional institutions were originally created to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among different law enforcement agencies.  The scope of fusion centers’ mission has quickly expanded to cover “all crimes and hazards.”   A new ACLU report, What’s Wrong With Fusion Centers?, argues that the centers raise serious privacy issues at a time when new technology, government powers and zeal in the “war on terrorism” are combining to threaten Americans’ privacy at an unprecedented level.

“Fusion centers lack oversight, boundary-setting, and checks and balances crucial to protecting the rights of innocent Americans,” says Nicole Ozer, Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Director for the ACLU of Northern California.  “The California legislature – as well as Congress – must lift the cloak of secrecy, examine these centers closely, and make certain that they are acting within both federal and state law.”  

Over 40 new Fusion Centers have been established across the country.  California is home to the Anti-Terrorism Information Center (Sacramento), Northern CA Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center (RTTAC – San Francisco), Sacramento Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center, Joint Regional Intelligence Center (JRIC) (Norwalk), Los Angeles Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center and the San Diego Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center.

The types of information that fusion centers seek have broadened to include not just criminal intelligence, but public and private sector data. 

The ACLU agrees that the ostensible purpose of fusion centers – improving the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among different levels and arms of government – is legitimate and important. However, taken as a whole, the ACLU’s study of fusion centers raises serious questions that fusion centers are violating important privacy laws and oversight safeguards.  

The ACLU report identifies five specific problems with fusion centers as they currently exist:

• Ambiguous Lines of Authority.  Overlapping jurisdictions create the potential for manipulation of differing laws to evade accountability.
• Private Sector Participation.  Fusion centers are incorporating private corporations into the intelligence process, further threatening privacy.
• Military Participation.  Fusion centers are involving military personnel in law enforcement activities.
• Data Mining.  Federal fusion center guidelines encourage wholesale data collection and manipulation processes that threaten privacy.
• Excessive Secrecy.  Public oversight, individual redress and the very effectiveness of fusion centers are threatened by excessive secrecy.