Citizen Intelligence or Sophisticated Espionage
They say that he who forgets his own history is condemned to repeat it, and unfortunately, there are many events we would not like to go through twice. The history of each one of us is written day-to-day, in each of our acts, and it is increasingly common for these acts to remain in written form or on a database. It happens when we pay with a credit card at the supermarket, when we make a transfer on the Internet, or when a Police camera photographs us driving over the speed limit.
The tragedies of September 11th, March 11th, and the July 7th attacks in London have once again raised basic questions about citizen information and how to use it properly in order to prevent similar situations, or to re-construct the events to find the culprits. Governments around the world have seen the benefits to be gained by applying intelligence to data analysis. The business world has been a pioneer in the application of these Customer Intelligence techniques. When a company is capable of storing and accurately managing data generated from its daily relationship with the customer, it will be able to in a more optimal way towards them, offering customers the treatment and attention they demand, and anticipating their future behavior.
However, the debate regarding the limits of information use is taking very different paths in the United States and Europe. For example, in the United States there is a great deal of reluctance concerning government actions aimed at controlling personal data in order to improve security. On the other hand, consumers have no problem identifying themselves to companies and providing them with all types of information, as long as this means more personalized treatment and sales advantages. In Europe, on the other hand, we tend to be very wary of companies managing our personal data, but we have no trouble accepting the fact that the administration has all of our data. As an example, the Spanish IRS’s database, the largest database in Spain, is the one that has the best picture of us as citizens and consumers.
Despite everything, the events in London have made clear the importance of having the necessary information available in order to prevent and avoid similar situation. The investigation stalled because the terrorists used pre-paid telephones to communicate, which allowed them not to be identified by the telephone company, as well as keeping the Police from registering useful information. Faced with this situation, which occurs all over Europe, with the exception of Switzerland, the Spanish Government has proposed legislative modifications to make it necessary to register as a user with the telephone company, even with a pre-paid card, as well as requiring those companies to keep phone call information on file for a minimum period of 12 months.
This interest in identifying suspicious conduct has generated almost secret initiatives such as Echelon. Echelon is a small and brilliant team of statisticians, linguists, and mathematicians who work in a secret place, and track and analyze all international communications by voice, fax, and e-mail. This team has served the United States for years in detecting indications of criminality against its interests and locating assumed terrorists, creating risk alerts and criminality algorithms. After September 11th, the country reinforced security measures and proposed the development of a giant database with which to develop a “scoring” system to gauge the level of danger, analyzing transactions involving payments, flights, hotels, and police, allowing them to identify passengers on national and international flights according to a “traffic light” color: for example, a passenger classified as “red” would be a severe risk, and would not be allowed to fly.
It’s not too outlandish to establish a similarity between the customer/company relationship and that which exists between the citizen and the State. Applying Customer Intelligence techniques can allow us to find out how a certain situation unraveled – of tragic consequences in London’s case-, and even to detect behavior patterns that can warn us of a dangerous situation. The objective is not to implement a Big Brother that watches over and dominates us, but rather to put the necessary elements into place in order to avoid tragic events such as these. The challenge for the authorities is therefore in taking advantage of companies’ experience and applying it to society’s benefit. It is the time of “Citizen Intelligence”, but it brings up many ethical challenges. Should governments know about all its citizens’ movements? The answer is not at all clear.