August 16, 2008

DOJ Announces Plan to Weaken Privacy Rule on Databases

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a plan to weaken the 28 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 23 that governs federal law enforcement access to the criminal databases operated by state and local governments. The 28 CFR Part 23 is cited in the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan as the rule that allegedly provide "privacy protection for data subjects. The regulation addresses the management of inter-, and multi jurisdictional criminal intelligence sharing systems operated by local and state law enforcement or on their behalf. The Federal Privacy Act, which requires data accuracy, provides much better protection for how personal information stored in databases should be managed. In 2003, the DOJ opted to not require that the FBI comply with accuracy requirements for information held by the National Crime Information Center database. The DOJ and Department of Homeland Security fund a number of local and state law enforcement domestic surveillance programs.

U.S. May Ease Police Spy Rules, Washington Post, August 16, 2008