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I've been holding back... but I'll toss in my two cents.  First, a 
little background.  I started a company about six years ago to analyze 
electronic communities.  My first investor and business partner was a 
former NSA intelligence analyst.  We applied traffic and SNA analysis to 
find opinion leaders, trends, etc.  We raised $7 million and turned my 
prototype into a bunch of tools for gathering, analyzing and reporting 
on communities.  The technology I had invented was eventually acquired 
by Intelliseek, which is funded by, among others, the CIA venture 
capital fund.  I am told that it is now used by U.S. government agencies 
to monitor terrorist "buzz."

What bothers me about this technology in the hands of the powerful is 
that politicians easily misinterpret (to be kind) intelligence data.  I 
suspect that anyone who is on this list knows how incredibly easy it is 
to see trends where there really aren't any, how to misuse the kind of 
statistics upon which we rely.  As researchers and practitioners, I 
think we have a duty beyond the pursuit of knowledge -- to warn of how 
our technology can be misused and educate as many smart people as 
possible about how to use it well.  I think there is great potential 
freedom latent in networks... but plenty of opportunity for abuse.

I probably feel the consequences of poor intelligence more than most of 
you.  Our nation's decision to go to war in Iraq, based on intelligence 
that we now know was in error, cost our family dearly.  Lance Corporal 
Wes Canning, killed in action in Fallujah, November 10, 2004, was my 
niece's husband.

Nick

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