In 1998 Gore proposed a national justice information system which was implemented by AG Reno. The purpose of the program is to make criminal justice and other information easily available to many the parties involved; courts, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, local officials and so on. We ran across a presentation by a DoJ official in which he outlines progress of the program and how to address the conflict posed by information collection technology for privacy concerns of citizens and organizations: http://cryptome.org/doj-ji-pi.ppt (129KB) He advocates that despite the "tension between justice needs and privacy concerns," tools for information collection and sharing be provided the national justice system as soon as possible, while a campaign is initiated to address privacy concerns primarily by PR among US, Canadian, UN and other cooperating agencies. He observes that local parties are not always sensitive to privacy concerns and that they may need education -- but that is not to hold up getting them the tools they need to collect information on citizens. He also notes that current laws do not adequately cover today's and tomorrow's technology for collecting and sharing information. What technology besides Carnivore is outside the law? Here's a June 2000 information distribution technology status report by The Global Justice Information Network: http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/global/documents/is_report.htm And here are the member organizations of the Global Justice Information Network Advisory Committee: Administrative Office of the United States Courts American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators American Correctional Association American Probation and Parole Association Attorney General Advisory Committee Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board Criminal Justice Information Services Federal Working Group Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) IACP, State and Provincial Police Division Interpol Major Cities Chiefs Association National Association of Attorneys General NASIRE (National Association of State Information Resource Executives), Representing the Chief Information Officers of the States National Center for State Courts National Criminal Justice Association National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges National District Attorneys Association National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System National Legal Aid and Defender Association National Sheriffs Association North Carolina Department of Justice Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Police Department SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Treasury U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Investigative Agency Policies