States quietly buy, mine personal data -- including names of your associates and relatives
The government is rounding up your cell phone numbers, insurance claims, credit reports, financial records, and the names of your associates and relatives and sharing them with law enforcement officials nationwide.
They may even have your unlisted iPhone number.
But it's not President George W. Bush, who's taken fire over his warrantless wiretapping program, or the National Security Agency, which oversaw the interception of Americans' calls overseas.
It's your state.
So-called "fusion centers" set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks collect, store and analyze commercial and public data on unknown millions of Americans. Little is known about the centers, though they received $254 million from the Department of Homeland Security between 2004 and 2007.
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http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Big_Brother_States_buy_mine_personal_0402.html