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Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Financial 
Management, the Budget, and International Security, Committee on 
Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate: 

May 2004: 

DATA MINING: 

Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses: 

GAO-04-548: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-04-548, a report to the Ranking Minority Member, 
Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and International 
Security, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

Why GAO Did This Study: 

Both the government and the private sector are increasingly using “data 
mining”—that is, the application of database technology and techniques 
(such as statistical analysis and modeling) to uncover hidden patterns 
and subtle relationships in data and to infer rules that allow for the 
prediction of future results. As has been widely reported, many federal 
data mining efforts involve the use of personal information that is 
mined from databases maintained by public as well as private sector 
organizations. 

GAO was asked to survey data mining systems and activities in federal 
agencies. Specifically, GAO was asked to identify planned and 
operational federal data mining efforts and describe their 
characteristics.

What GAO Found: 

Federal agencies are using data mining for a variety of purposes, 
ranging from improving service or performance to analyzing and 
detecting terrorist patterns and activities. Our survey of 128 federal 
departments and agencies on their use of data mining shows that 52 
agencies are using or are planning to use data mining. These 
departments and agencies reported 199 data mining efforts, of which 68 
are planned and 131 are operational. The figure here shows the most 
common uses of data mining efforts as described by agencies. Of these 
uses, the Department of Defense reported the largest number of efforts 
aimed at improving service or performance, managing human resources, 
and analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities. The 
Department of Education reported the largest number of efforts aimed at 
detecting fraud, waste, and abuse. The National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration reported the largest number of efforts aimed at 
analyzing scientific and research information. For detecting criminal 
activities or patterns, however, efforts are spread relatively evenly 
among the agencies that reported having such efforts. 

In addition, out of all 199 data mining efforts identified, 122 used 
personal information. For these efforts, the primary purposes were 
improving service or performance; detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
analyzing scientific and research information; managing human 
resources; detecting criminal activities or patterns; and analyzing 
intelligence and detecting terrorist activities. 

Agencies also identified efforts to mine data from the private sector 
and data from other federal agencies, both of which could include 
personal information. Of 54 efforts to mine data from the private 
sector (such as credit reports or credit card transactions), 36 involve 
personal information. Of 77 efforts to mine data from other federal 
agencies, 46 involve personal information (including student loan 
application data, bank account numbers, credit card information, and 
taxpayer identification numbers). 

Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts in Departments and Agencies: 

[See PDF for image]

[End of figure]

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-548

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on 
the link above. For more information, contact Linda Koontz at (202) 
512-6240 or koontzl@gao.gov.

[End of section]

Contents: 

Letter: 

Results in Brief: 

Background: 

Agencies Identified Numerous Data Mining Efforts with Various Aims: 

Summary: 

Appendixes: 

Appendix I: Objective, Scope, and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Surveyed Departments and Agencies: 

Appendix III: Departments and Agencies Reporting No Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Appendix IV: Inventories of Efforts: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts in Departments and 
Agencies and Number of Efforts Reported: 

Table 2: Department of Agriculture's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 3: Department of Commerce's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 4: Department of Defense's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 5: Department of Education's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 6: Department of Energy's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 7: Department of Health and Human Services' Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Table 8: Department of Homeland Security's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 9: Department of the Interior's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 10: Department of Justice's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 11: Department of Labor's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 12: Department of State's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 13: Department of Transportation's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 14: Department of the Treasury's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 15: Department of Veterans Affairs' Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 16: Environmental Protection Agency's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 17: Export-Import Bank of the United States' Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Table 18: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Table 19: Federal Reserve System's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 20: National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Inventory of 
Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 21: Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 22: Office of Personnel Management's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Table 23: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Table 24: Railroad Retirement Board's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Table 25: Small Business Administration's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Personal 
Information: 

Figure 2: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Private 
Sector Data: 

Figure 3: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Data from 
Other Federal Agencies: 

Abbreviations: 

CARDS: Counterintelligence Analytical Research Data System: 

CG: Coast Guard: 

CI-AIMS: Counterintelligence Automated Investigative Management 
System: 

DHHS: Department of Health and Human Services: 

DOD: Department of Defense: 

DOE: Department of Energy: 

DOT: Department of Transportation: 

EFTPS: Electronic Federal Tax Payment System: 

EOS: Earth Observing System: 

FARS: Fatality Analysis Reporting System: 

FDA: Food and Drug Administration: 

GENESIS: Global Environmental and Earth Science Information System: 

GSFC: Goddard Space Federal Center: 

HR: Human Resources: 

HRSA: Health Resources and Services Administration: 

MATRIX: Multistate Anti-terrorism Information Exchange System: 

NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration: 

NVO: National Virtual Observatory: 

OIG: Office of Inspector General: 

OLAP: On-line Analytical Processing: 

RSST: Real Estate Stress Test: 

SAA: Spectral Analysis Automation: 

SAS: Safety Automated System: 

SMARTS: Statistical Management Analysis and Reporting Tool System: 

SWC: Space Warfare Center: 

TIMS: Technical Information Management System: 

TOP: Treasury Offset Program: 

VA: Veterans Affairs: 

VHA: Veterans Health Administration: 

VISN: Veterans Integrated Service Network: 

Letter May 4, 2004: 

The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and International 
Security: 
Committee on Governmental Affairs: 
United States Senate: 

Dear Senator Akaka: 

Data mining--a technique for extracting knowledge from large volumes of 
data--is increasingly being used by government and by the private 
sector. As has been widely reported, many federal data mining efforts 
involve the use of personal information[Footnote 1] that is mined from 
public as well as private sector organizations.

This report responds to your request that we identify and describe 
operational and planned data mining systems and activities in federal 
agencies. In a follow-up report, we plan to perform an in-depth review 
of selected federal data mining efforts.

The term "data mining" has a number of meanings. For purposes of this 
work, we define data mining as the application of database technology 
and techniques--such as statistical analysis and modeling--to uncover 
hidden patterns and subtle relationships in data and to infer rules 
that allow for the prediction of future results. We based this 
definition on the most commonly used terms found in a survey of the 
technical literature. In our initial survey of chief information 
officers, these officials found the definition sufficient to identify 
agency data mining efforts.

To address our objective to identify and describe operational and 
planned data mining systems and activities in federal agencies, we 
surveyed chief information officers or comparable officials at 128 
federal departments and agencies to determine whether the agencies had 
operational and planned data mining systems or activities.[Footnote 2] 
We then conducted telephone interviews with the reported system 
managers to obtain information on the characteristics of the identified 
data mining efforts. To verify the information we received, we sent 
follow-up letters to agencies that responded as well as to those that 
did not respond, we asked responsible officials to verify the 
information, and we performed random assessments of the means that 
these officials used to verify the information.

In addition, we conducted a search of technical literature and 
periodicals to develop a comprehensive list of federal government data 
mining efforts and then compared these efforts with data mining efforts 
reported by federal agencies. If the data mining efforts on our lists 
were not reported on the survey, we contacted the appropriate chief 
information officers and, with their concurrence, added the efforts.

We performed our work from May 2003 to April 2004 in accordance with 
generally accepted government auditing standards. Additional details on 
our scope and methodology are provided in appendix I.

Results in Brief: 

Federal agencies are using data mining for a variety of purposes, 
ranging from improving service or performance to analyzing and 
detecting terrorist patterns and activities. Our survey of 128 federal 
departments and agencies on their use of data mining shows that 52 
agencies are using or are planning to use data mining. These 
departments and agencies reported 199 data mining efforts, of which 68 
were planned and 131 were operational. The most common uses of data 
mining efforts were described by agencies as: 

* improving service or performance;

* detecting fraud, waste, and abuse;

* analyzing scientific and research information;

* managing human resources;

* detecting criminal activities or patterns; and: 

* analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities.

The Department of Defense reported having the largest number of data 
mining efforts aimed at improving service or performance and at 
managing human resources. Defense was also the most frequent user of 
efforts aimed at analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist 
activities, followed by the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, 
and Education.

The Department of Education reported the largest number of efforts 
aimed at detecting fraud, waste, and abuse, while the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration targets most of their data mining 
efforts (21 out of 23) toward analyzing scientific and research 
information. Data mining efforts for detecting criminal activities or 
patterns, however, were spread relatively evenly among the reporting 
agencies.

In addition, out of all 199 data mining efforts identified, 122 used 
personal information. For these efforts, the primary purposes were 
detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; detecting criminal activities or 
patterns; analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
and increasing tax compliance.

Agencies also identified efforts to mine data from the private sector 
and data from other federal agencies, both of which could include 
personal information. Of 54 efforts to mine data from the private 
sector (such as credit reports or credit card transactions), 36 involve 
personal information. Of 77 efforts to mine data from other federal 
agencies, 46 involve personal information (including student loan 
application data, bank account numbers, credit card information, and 
taxpayer identification numbers).

Background: 

Data mining enables corporations and government agencies to analyze 
massive volumes of data quickly and relatively inexpensively. The use 
of this type of information retrieval has been driven by the 
exponential growth in the volumes and availability of information 
collected by the public and private sectors, as well as by advances in 
computing and data storage capabilities. In response to these trends, 
generic data mining tools are increasingly available for--or built 
into--major commercial database applications. Today, mining can be 
performed on many types of data, including those in structured, 
textual, spatial, Web, or multimedia forms. Data mining is becoming a 
big business; Forrester Research has estimated that the data mining 
market is passing the billion dollar mark.

Although the use and sophistication of data mining have increased in 
both the government and the private sector, data mining remains an 
ambiguous term. According to some experts, data mining overlaps a wide 
range of analytical activities, including data profiling, data 
warehousing, online analytical processing, and enterprise analytical 
applications.[Footnote 3] Some of the terms used to describe data 
mining or similar analytical activities include "factual data analysis" 
and "predictive analytics." We surveyed technical literature and 
developed a definition of data mining based on the most commonly used 
terms found in this literature. Based on this search, we define data 
mining as the application of database technology and techniques--such 
as statistical analysis and modeling--to uncover hidden patterns and 
subtle relationships in data and to infer rules that allow for the 
prediction of future results. We used this definition in our initial 
survey of chief information officers; these officials found the 
definition sufficient to identify agency data mining efforts.

Data mining has been used successfully for a number of years in the 
private and public sectors in a broad range of applications. In the 
private sector, these applications include customer relationship 
management, market research, retail and supply chain analysis, medical 
analysis and diagnostics, financial analysis, and fraud detection. In 
the government, data mining was initially used to detect financial 
fraud and abuse. For example, data mining has been an integral part of 
GAO audits and investigations of federal government purchase and credit 
card programs.[Footnote 4] Data mining and related technologies are 
also emerging as key tools in Department of Homeland Security 
initiatives.

Data Mining Poses Privacy Challenge: 

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, data mining has been 
seen increasingly as a useful tool to help detect terrorist threats by 
improving the collection and analysis of public and private sector 
data. In a recent report on information sharing and analysis to address 
the challenges of homeland security, it was noted that agencies at all 
levels of government are now interested in collecting and mining large 
amounts of data from commercial sources.[Footnote 5] The report noted 
that agencies may use such data not only for investigations of known 
terrorists, but also to perform large-scale data analysis and pattern 
discovery in order to discern potential terrorist activity by unknown 
individuals. Such use of data mining by federal agencies has raised 
public and congressional concerns regarding privacy.

One example of a large-scale development effort launched in the wake of 
the September 11 attacks is the Multistate Anti-terrorism Information 
Exchange System, known as MATRIX. MATRIX, currently used in five 
states,[Footnote 6] provides the capability to store, analyze, and 
exchange sensitive terrorism-related and other criminal intelligence 
data among agencies within a state, among states, and between state and 
federal agencies. Information in MATRIX databases includes criminal 
history records, driver's license data, vehicle registration records, 
incarceration records, and digitized photographs. Public awareness of 
MATRIX and of similar large-scale data mining or data mining-like 
projects has led to concerns about the government's use of data mining 
to conduct a mass "dataveillance"[Footnote 7]--a surveillance of large 
groups of people--to sift through vast amounts of personally 
identifying data to find individuals who might fit a terrorist profile.

Mining government and private databases containing personal information 
creates a range of privacy concerns. Through data mining, agencies can 
quickly and efficiently obtain information on individuals or groups by 
exploiting large databases containing personal information aggregated 
from public and private records. Information can be developed about a 
specific individual or about unknown individuals whose behavior or 
characteristics fit a specific pattern. Before data aggregation and 
data mining came into use, personal information contained in paper 
records stored at widely dispersed locations, such as courthouses or 
other government offices, was relatively difficult to gather and 
analyze. As one expert noted, data mining technologies that provide for 
easy access and analysis of aggregated data challenge the concept of 
privacy protection afforded to individuals through the inherent 
inefficiency of government agencies analyzing paper, rather than 
aggregated, computer records.[Footnote 8]

Privacy concerns about mined or analyzed personal data also include 
concerns about the quality and accuracy of the mined data; the use of 
the data for other than the original purpose for which the data were 
collected without the consent of the individual; the protection of the 
data against unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure; and the 
right of individuals to know about the collection of personal 
information, how to access that information, and how to request a 
correction of inaccurate information.[Footnote 9]

Agencies Identified Numerous Data Mining Efforts with Various Aims: 

Of 128 federal departments and agencies surveyed for information on 
their planned and operational data mining efforts (listed in app. II), 
52 agencies reported 199 data mining efforts, and 69 agencies reported 
that they were not engaged in data mining and were not planning such 
efforts (listed in app. III). Of the 199 data mining efforts, 68 were 
planned and 131 were operational. Seven agencies did not respond to our 
survey.[Footnote 10] Appendix IV lists the 199 data mining efforts 
reported, along with key characteristics.

Agencies described the most common purposes of data mining efforts as: 

* improving service or performance;

* detecting fraud, waste, and abuse;

* analyzing scientific and research information;

* managing human resources;

* detecting criminal activities or patterns; and: 

* analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities.

As shown in table 1, the Department of Defense reported the largest 
number of efforts aimed at improving service or performance (with 19 
out of 65 reported efforts) and at managing human resources (with 14 
out of 17 efforts). Defense was also the most frequent user of efforts 
aimed at analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities, 
with 5 of 14 efforts, followed by the Departments of Homeland Security 
and Justice, with 4 and 3 efforts, respectively. The Department of 
Education has the largest number of efforts aimed at detecting fraud, 
waste, and abuse (9 out of 24 efforts reported). The National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration accounts for 21 of the 23 
identified efforts for analyzing scientific and research information. 
Efforts are spread relatively evenly among the agencies that reported 
using data mining efforts for detecting criminal activities or 
patterns. Table 1 summarizes the top six uses of data mining efforts 
among the responding agencies.

Table 1: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts in Departments and 
Agencies and Number of Efforts Reported: 

Department or agency: Department of Agriculture; 
Improving service or performance: 8; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Commerce; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Defense; 
Improving service or performance: 19; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: 1; 
Managing human resources: 14; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 1; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 5.

Department or agency: Department of Education; 
Improving service or performance: 6; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 9; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 3; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 1.

Department or agency: Department of Energy; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 3; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Health and Human Services; 
Improving service or performance: 4; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: 1; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 1.

Department or agency: Department of Homeland Security; 
Improving service or performance: 5; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: 2; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 2; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 4.

Department or agency: Department of the Interior; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Justice; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: 1; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 3; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 3.

Department or agency: Department of Labor; 
Improving service or performance: 3; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of State; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 2; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Transportation; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of the Treasury; 
Improving service or performance: 4; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 2; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Department of Veterans Affairs; 
Improving service or performance: 5; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 5; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 1; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Environmental Protection Agency; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Export-Import Bank of the United States; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Federal Reserve System; 
Improving service or performance: [Empty]; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 1; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: 21; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Office of Personnel Management; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; 
Improving service or performance: 2; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Railroad Retirement Board; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Department or agency: Small Business Administration; 
Improving service or performance: 1; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: [Empty]; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: [Empty]; 
Managing human resources: [Empty]; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: [Empty]; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: [Empty].

Total; 
Improving service or performance: 65; 
Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse: 24; 
Analyzing scientific and research information: 23; 
Managing human resources: 17; 
Detecting criminal activities or patterns: 15; 
Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities: 14. 

Source: GAO analysis of agency-provided data.

[End of table]

Some data mining purposes focus on human activities and therefore are 
inherently likely to involve personal information; examples of these 
purposes are detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; detecting criminal 
activities or patterns; managing human resources; and analyzing 
intelligence. The following are examples of data mining efforts for 
each of these purposes: 

* Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse. The Veterans Benefits 
Administration's C & P Payment Data Analysis effort mines veterans' 
compensation and pension data for evidence of fraud.

* Detecting criminal activities or patterns. The Department of 
Education's Title IV Identity Theft Initiative effort focuses on 
identity theft cases involving education loans.

* Managing human resources. The U.S. Air Force's Oracle HR (Human 
Resources) uses data mining to provide information on promotions, pay 
grades, clearances, and other information relevant to human resources 
planning.

* Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities. The 
Defense Intelligence Agency's Verity K2 Enterprise mines data from the 
intelligence community and Internet sources to identify foreign 
terrorists or U.S. citizens connected to foreign terrorism activities.

On the other hand, other categories of efforts do not necessarily focus 
on human activities or involve personal information, such as many of 
the efforts aimed at analyzing scientific and research information. The 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, for example, mines 
large, complex earth science data sets to find patterns and 
relationships to detect hidden events (the system is called Machine 
Learning and Data Mining for Improved Data Understanding of High 
Dimensional Earth Sensed Data).

Similarly, many efforts aimed at improving service or performance (the 
most frequently cited purpose of data mining efforts) do not involve 
personal information. For example, the Department of the Navy's Supply 
Management System Multidimensional Cubes system includes a data 
warehouse containing data on every ship part that has been ordered 
since the 1980s, with multidimensional information on each part. The 
Navy uses data mining to calculate failure rates and identify needed 
improvements; according to the Navy, this system reduces downtime on 
ships by improving parts replacement.

However, some efforts aimed at improving service or performance do 
involve personal information. For example, the Veterans 
Administration's VISN (Veterans Integrated Service Network) 16 Data 
Warehouse is mined for a variety of information, including patient 
visits, laboratory tests, and pharmacy records, to provide management 
with health care system performance information.

Overall, 122 of the 199 data mining efforts involve personal 
information. Figure 1 shows the top six purposes of these efforts, as 
well as their distribution.

Figure 1: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Personal 
Information: 

[See PDF for image] 

[End of figure] 

Of the 199 data mining efforts, 54 use or plan to use data from the 
private sector. Of these, 36 involve personal information. The personal 
information from the private sector included credit reports and credit 
card transaction records. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the top 
six purposes of the 54 efforts involving data from the private sector.

Figure 2: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Private 
Sector Data: 

[See PDF for image] 

[End of figure] 

Of the 199 data mining efforts, 77 efforts use or plan to use data from 
other federal agencies. Of the 77 efforts, 46 involve personal 
information. The personal information from other federal agencies 
included student loan application data, bank account numbers, credit 
card information, and taxpayer identification numbers. Figure 3 shows 
the top six uses for the 77 efforts involving data from other federal 
agencies and their distribution.

Figure 3: Top Six Purposes of Data Mining Efforts That Involve Data 
from Other Federal Agencies: 

[See PDF for image] 

[End of figure] 

Summary: 

Driven by advances in computing and data storage capabilities and by 
growth in the volumes and availability of information collected by the 
public and private sectors, data mining enables government agencies to 
analyze massive volumes of data. Our survey shows that data mining is 
increasingly being used by government for a variety of purposes, 
ranging from improving service or performance to analyzing and 
detecting terrorist patterns and activities.

Although this survey provides a broad overview of the emerging uses of 
data mining in the federal government, more work is needed to shed 
light on the privacy implications of these efforts. In future work, we 
plan to examine selected federal data mining efforts and their 
implications.

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents 
of the report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days 
from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report 
to the Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members of the House Committee on 
Government Reform; Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency 
Organization, House Committee on Government Reform; Select Committee on 
Homeland Security, House of Representatives; Senate Committee on 
Governmental Affairs; and the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government 
Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, Senate 
Committee on Governmental Affairs. We will also make copies available 
to others on request. In addition, this report will be available at no 
charge on the GAO Web site at [Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov.].

If you have any questions concerning this report, please call me at 
(202) 512-6240 or Mirko J. Dolak, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-
6362. We can also be reached by e-mail at [Hyperlink, koontzl@gao.gov] 
and [Hyperlink, dolakm@gao.gov], respectively. Key contributors to this 
report were Camille M. Chaires, Barbara S. Collier, Orlando O. 
Copeland, Nancy E. Glover, Stuart M. Kaufman, Lori D. Martinez, Morgan 
F. Walts, and Marcia C. Washington.

Sincerely yours, 

Signed by: 

Linda D. Koontz: 
Director, Information Management Issues: 

[End of section]

Appendixes: 

Appendix I: Objective, Scope, and Methodology: 

Our objective was to identify and describe planned and operational 
federal data mining efforts. As a first step in addressing this 
objective, we developed a definition of "data mining." Because this 
expression has a range of meanings, we surveyed the technical 
literature to develop a definition based on the most commonly used 
terms found in this literature. We defined data mining as the 
application of database technology and techniques--such as statistical 
analysis and modeling--to uncover hidden patterns and subtle 
relationships in data and to infer rules that allow for the prediction 
of future results. In our initial survey of chief information officers, 
these officials found the definition sufficient to identify agency data 
mining efforts.

We then surveyed chief information officers or comparable officials at 
128 federal departments and agencies (see app. II) and asked them to 
identify whether their agency had operational and planned data mining 
efforts. We achieved a 95 percent response rate. Of the 121 agencies 
that responded, 69 reported that they did not have any data mining 
efforts (see app. III). We followed up with these 69 agencies and gave 
them another opportunity to report data mining efforts.

To obtain information on the characteristics of the identified 
operational or planned data mining efforts, we conducted structured 
telephone interviews[Footnote 11] with the identified system owners or 
activity managers. The interviews were designed to obtain detailed 
information about each data mining system, including the purpose and 
size, the use of personal information, and the use of data from the 
private sector or other federal organizations. We pretested the 
structured interview to ensure relevance and clarity.

We aggregated these data by agency and sent them back to the chief 
information officer, comparable official, or their designee and asked 
that they review the characteristics for completeness and accuracy. One 
of the 52 departments and agencies that reported data mining systems--
the Department of Homeland Security--has not responded to our request 
to review the reported data for completeness and accuracy.

We performed random assessments of the means that these officials used 
to verify the information. Based on these assessments, we concluded 
that the agencies' verification methods were reasonable and that as a 
result, we could rely on the accuracy of the reported data. We also 
conducted a search of technical literature and periodicals to develop a 
list of federal government data mining efforts and then compared the 
efforts on this list with the data mining efforts reported by federal 
agencies. If the data mining efforts on our list were not reported on 
the survey, we contacted the chief information officer or comparable 
official to determine whether that data mining effort should be 
included in our survey.

Because this was not a sample survey, there are no sampling errors. 
However, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey may 
introduce errors, commonly referred to as nonsampling errors. For 
example, difficulties in how a particular question is interpreted, in 
the sources of information that are available to respondents, or in how 
the data are entered into a database or were analyzed can introduce 
unwanted variability into the survey results. We took steps in the 
development of the structured interview, the data collection, and the 
data analysis to minimize these nonsampling errors. Among these steps, 
we pretested the structured interview instrument, contacted 
nonresponding agencies as well as agencies not identifying data mining 
efforts, and sent the aggregated data to the agency chief information 
officer for review.

We conducted our work from May 2003 to April 2004 in accordance with 
generally accepted government auditing standards.

[End of section]

Appendix II: Surveyed Departments and Agencies: 

Department of Agriculture: 

* Agricultural Marketing Service: 

* Agricultural Research Service: 

* Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: 

* Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service: 

* Farm Service Agency: 

* Food and Nutrition Service: 

* Food Safety and Inspection Service: 

* Foreign Agricultural Service: 

* Forest Service: 

* National Agricultural Statistics Service: 

* Natural Resources Conservation Service: 

* Risk Management Agency: 

* Rural Utilities Service: 

Department of Commerce: 

* Bureau of the Census: 

* Economic Development Administration: 

* International Trade Administration: 

* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

* U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: 

Department of Defense: 

* Missile Defense Agency: 

* Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency: 

* Defense Commissary Agency: 

* Defense Contract Audit Agency: 

* Defense Contract Management Agency: 

* Defense Information Systems Agency: 

* Defense Intelligence Agency: 

* Defense Legal Services Agency: 

* Defense Logistics Agency: 

* Defense Security Cooperation Agency: 

* Defense Security Service: 

* Defense Threat Reduction Agency: 

* Department of the Air Force: 

* Department of the Army: 

* Department of the Navy: 

* National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: 

* National Security Agency: 

* U.S. Marine Corps: 

Department of Education: 

Department of Energy: 

* Bonneville Power Administration: 

* Southeastern Power Administration: 

* Southwestern Power Administration: 

* Western Area Power Administration: 

Department of Health and Human Services: 

* Administration for Children and Families: 

* Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: 

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 

* Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 

* Food and Drug Administration: 

* Health Resources and Services Administration: 

* Indian Health Service: 

* National Institutes of Health: 

* Program Support Center: 

Department of Homeland Security: 

* Border and Transportation Security Directorate: 

* Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services: 

* Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate: 

* Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate: 

* Management Directorate: 

* Science and Technology Directorate: 

* U.S. Coast Guard: 

* U.S. Secret Service: 

Department of Housing and Urban Development: 

Department of the Interior: 

* Bureau of Indian Affairs: 

* Bureau of Land Management: 

* Bureau of Reclamation: 

* Minerals Management Service: 

* National Park Service: 

* Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement: 

* U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 

* U.S. Geological Survey: 

Department of Justice: 

* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives: 

* Drug Enforcement Administration: 

* Federal Bureau of Investigation: 

* Federal Bureau of Prisons: 

* U.S. Marshals Service: 

Department of Labor: 

Department of State: 

Department of Transportation: 

* Federal Aviation Administration: 

* Federal Highway Administration: 

* Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: 

* Federal Railroad Administration: 

* Federal Transit Administration: 

* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 

Department of the Treasury: 

* Bureau of Engraving and Printing: 

* Bureau of the Public Debt: 

* Financial Management Service: 

* Internal Revenue Service: 

* Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: 

* Office of Thrift Supervision: 

* U.S. Mint: 

Department of Veterans Affairs: 

* Veterans Benefits Administration: 

* Veterans Health Administration: 

Agency for International Development: 

Central Intelligence Agency: 

Corporation for National and Community Service: 

Environmental Protection Agency: 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: 

Executive Office of the President: 

Export-Import Bank of the United States: 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: 

Federal Reserve System: 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board: 

General Services Administration: 

Legal Services Corporation: 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: 

National Credit Union Administration: 

National Labor Relations Board: 

National Science Foundation: 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: 

Office of Management and Budget: 

Office of Personnel Management: 

Peace Corps: 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: 

Railroad Retirement Board: 

Securities and Exchange Commission: 

Small Business Administration: 

Smithsonian Institution: 

Social Security Administration: 

U.S. Postal Service: 

[End of section]

Appendix III: Departments and Agencies Reporting No Data Mining 
Efforts: 

The following 69 departments and agencies reported that they have no 
operational or planned data mining efforts: 

Department of Agriculture: 

* Agricultural Marketing Service: 

* Agricultural Research Service: 

* Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: 

* Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service: 

* Farm Service Agency: 

* Foreign Agricultural Service: 

* Forest Service: 

* National Agricultural Statistics Service: 

* Food Safety and Inspection Service: 

Department of Commerce: 

* Economic Development Administration: 

* Bureau of the Census: 

* International Trade Administration: 

* Department of Commerce Headquarters: 

* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

Department of Defense: 

* Defense Contract Audit Agency: 

* Missile Defense Agency: 

* Defense Legal Services Agency: 

* Defense Security Service: 

* Defense Threat Reduction Agency: 

* Defense Logistics Agency: 

* Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency: 

* Defense Contract Management Agency: 

* Defense Security Cooperation Agency: 

Department of Energy: 

* Bonneville Power Administration: 

* Southeastern Power Administration: 

* Southwestern Power Administration: 

* Western Area Power Administration: 

Department of Health and Human Services: 

* Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 

* Administration for Children and Families: 

* National Institutes of Health: 

* Indian Health Service: 

Department of Homeland Security: 

* Science and Technology Directorate: 

* Management Directorate: 

* Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services: 

* Department of Homeland Security Headquarters: 

Department of Housing and Urban Development: 

Department of the Interior: 

* Bureau of Reclamation: 

* Bureau of Land Management: 

* U.S. Geological Survey: 

* Fish and Wildlife Service: 

* Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement: 

* Bureau of Indian Affairs: 

* Department of the Interior Headquarters: 

Department of Justice: 

* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives: 

Department of Transportation: 

* Federal Aviation Administration: 

* Federal Transit Administration: 

* Federal Railroad Administration: 

* Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: 

* Federal Highway Administration: 

Department of the Treasury: 

* Comptroller of the Currency: 

* Bureau of the Public Debt: 

* Office of Thrift Supervision: 

* Department of the Treasury Headquarters: 

* Bureau of Engraving and Printing: 

Agency for International Development: 

Executive Office of the President: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board: 

General Services Administration: 

Legal Services Corporation: 

National Credit Union Administration: 

National Labor Relations Board: 

National Science Foundation: 

Office of Management and Budget: 

Peace Corps: 

Security and Exchange Commission: 

Smithsonian Institution: 

Social Security Administration: 

U.S. Postal service: 

[End of section]

Appendix IV :Inventories of Efforts: 

The following tables present selected information from our survey of 
128 major federal departments and agencies on their use of data mining. 
The tables list the purpose of each data mining effort, whether the 
system is planned or operational, and whether the system uses personal 
information, data from the private sector, or data from other federal 
agencies. The survey shows that 52 departments and agencies are using 
or are planning to use data mining. These departments and agencies 
reported 199 data mining efforts, of which 68 were planned and 131 were 
operational.

Table 2: Department of Agriculture's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Department of Agriculture Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: Travel Data Mart; 
Description: Will consolidate employee travel information from 
financial and travel systems. Will allow for a governmentwide e-travel 
system and provide the department with information on the financial 
ramifications of its travel; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Financial Statements Data Warehouse; 
Description: Is used in the production of consolidated financial 
statements. Provides information for products that are used to satisfy 
external reporting requirements, such as Office of Management and 
Budget and Department of the Treasury requirements; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Financial Data Warehouse; 
Description: Is the department's internal financial management 
reporting system. Data mining is done for ad hoc and on-demand reports; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Food and Nutrition Service: 

Organization/system name: Grantee Monitoring Activities--Southeast 
Regional Office; 
Description: Assists in monitoring the financial status of grant 
holders. Grantees are required to provide expenditure reports, and 
analysis is performed quarterly that matches stated draws to the actual 
draws from the U.S. Treasury; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Grantee Monitoring Activities--Mountain 
Plains Regional Office; 
Description: Assists in monitoring the management and distribution of 
Indian funds for major food benefit programs, such as food stamps, in 
10 grantee states; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Grantee Monitoring Activities--Southwest 
Regional Office; 
Description: Maximizes on-site monitoring efforts by confirming the 
accuracy of grantee accounting. Reduces on-site time, maximizes time to 
complete reviews, and has achieved a 50 percent travel savings; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Grantee Monitoring Activities--Midwest 
Regional Office; 
Description: Will be a reporting system to provide reports and automate 
the audit process. Plans are to acquire data mining tools to review and 
compare budgets, reports, and plans; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Grantee Monitoring Activities--Northeast 
Regional Office; 
Description: Supports on-site reviews of analyses to confirm financial 
report information; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Integrated Program Accounting System Data 
Integrity; 
Description: Will create ad-hoc reporting centers to validate 
accounting information; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Natural Resources Conservation Service: 

Organization/system name: National Resource Inventory Used for 
Statistical Analysis of Past Soil Survey Databases; 
Description: Is a trending database that tracks more than 200 resource 
issues such as monitoring erosion. Also processes statistical 
technology; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Risk Management Agency: 

Organization/system name: CAE; 
Description: Is part of a congressionally mandated project to assist 
the Risk Management Agency in controlling fraud, waste, and abuse in 
the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation program; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Department of Agriculture.

[End of table]

Table 3: Department of Commerce's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: 

Organization/system name: Compensation Projection Model in the 
Enterprise Data Warehouse; 
Description: Generates and makes available compensation projection 
data, both salary and benefits, on current employees and on planned 
hires. It also accounts for planned attritions; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Department of Commerce.

[End of table]

Table 4: Department of Defense's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Defense Commissary Agency: 

Organization/system name: DeCA Electronic Records Management and 
Archive System; 
Description: Will be a corporate information system for managing 
unstructured data. It will allow for electronic record keeping, 
document management, and automated receipt processes; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Corporate Decision Support System; 
Commissary Operations Management System; 
Description: Mines data to produce analytical data on commissary 
operations. Provides information such as what items stores are selling 
and helps determine whether cashiers are being honest; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Defense Information Systems Agency: 

Organization/system name: Enterprise Business Intelligence System; 
Description: Will replace the current management information 
environment, which includes operations, reporting, billing, statistics, 
and other management information activities; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Defense Intelligence Agency: 

Organization/system name: Insight Smart Discovery; 
Description: Will be a data mining knowledge discovery tool to work 
against unstructured text. Will categorize nouns (names, locations, 
events) and present information in images; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Verity K2 Enterprise; 
Description: Mines data from the intelligence community and Internet 
searches to identify foreign terrorists or U.S. citizens connected to 
foreign terrorism activities; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: PATHFINDER; 
Description: Is a data mining tool developed for analysts that provides 
the ability to analyze government and private sector databases rapidly. 
It can compare and search multiple large databases quickly; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Autonomy; 
Description: Is a large search engine tool that is used to search 
hundreds of thousands of word documents. Is used for the organization 
and knowledge discovery of intelligence; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Department of the Air Force: 

Organization/system name: ANG Data Warehouse--Guardian; 
Description: Will be used to measure military readiness. It 
incorporates information on all disciplines to provide management 
information needed to assess military readiness; 
Purpose: Measuring military readiness; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Integrated Space Warfare Center (SWC) 
Information System; 
Description: Will be an internal database containing information on all 
development/execution activities within the SWC. Will be used by all 
management and analyst personnel to track and align the center's 
activities to warfighter needs, report on execution status, financial 
status, schedule status, and performance measurements; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Safety Automated System (SAS); 
Description: Will query databases to find automation mishaps. Governed 
by Directive 920124 and will allow for the investigation and reporting 
of identified automation mishaps; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Enterprise Business System; 
Description: Will support strategic planning, assist in building 
scientific and technical budgets for the Air Force, and serve as a 
launch point for all new programs. Research and development case files 
will be maintained for 75 years; 
the activity indexes, catalogs, and tracks these files; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Genomic and Proteomic Results Analysis; 
Description: Analyzes National Institutes of Health's genetic data; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: IG Corporate Information System; 
Description: Enhances combat readiness and mission capabilities for Air 
Combat Command units and commanders. It assists in preparing for and 
conducting inspections; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Computer Network Defense System; 
Description: Evaluates network activities to create rules for intrusion 
detection system signature sets; 
Purpose: Improving information security; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: FAME; 
Description: Will serve as a central repository for Air Force manpower 
information. Will track manpower and unit authorization funding; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Resource Wizard; 
Description: Serves as a manpower tracking system. Tracks positions and 
captures data for specific funding purposes; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Government Purchase Card; 
Description: Is used in overseeing purchases made by Air Force 
personnel with government-provided credit cards; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Ambulatory Data System Queries; 
Description: Tracks the initial diagnosis of patients with the results 
of further testing and diagnosis. Allows for early notification of 
diseases and injuries; 
Purpose: Monitoring public health; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Modus Operandi Database; 
Description: Is an investigative tool used to identify and track trends 
in criminal behavior. It links characteristics of crimes and provides 
details on crime scenes and other crime factors; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Executive Decision Support System; 
Description: Takes data from all functional metric balances. Processes 
charts and graphs to identify trends and to make sure goals are 
accomplished; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Inspire; 
Description: Is a tool that assists in providing a narrative 
description of all research and development that is being conducted 
within the Air Force. Provides cost and milestone information on 
research and development projects; 
Purpose: Performing strategic planning; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Discoverer; 
Description: Is used to manage personnel records, including individual 
aliases and histories; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Requirements and Concepts System; 
Description: Will serve as a repository for new system projects and 
system requirements. It will be available for consultation for 
information on all project requests and identified requirements; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Business Objects; 
Description: Is a commercial off-the-shelf tool that is used to analyze 
and report on human resources activities; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: THRMIS; 
Description: Uses commercial off-the-shelf software to maintain a data 
warehouse of integrated inventory and manpower data for the Total 
Force: active duty (officer and enlisted), Air Force Reserve, Air 
National Guard, and civilians. Is used to assess and analyze the health 
of the Air Force; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: SAS; 
Description: Is a Web-enabled personnel data system that gives 
authorized users worldwide the ability to tabulate demographic data on 
recruitment, promotion, and retention; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Oracle HR; 
Description: Is a personnel management system that manages information 
for promotions, pay grades, clearances, and other information relevant 
to human resources; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Health Modeling and Informatics Division Data 
Mart; 
Description: Provides information and decision support to the Air Force 
headquarters' surgeon general for decision making, policy development, 
and resource allocation. It also provides performance information and 
analysis to medical field units in support of performance measurement 
objectives; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: FIRST EDV (BRIO); 
Description: Will deal with Air Force budgets and other components of 
its financial environment. Historical analyses and trend analyses will 
be performed on the budget process; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: IG World; 
Description: Is used to store and track data and requirements, such as 
lodging and augmentee requirements, for the PAC inspector general; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Department of Defense Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: Automated Continuing Evaluation System; 
Description: Will be used to improve personnel security continuing 
evaluation efforts within Department of Defense (DOD) by identifying 
issues of security concern between the normal reinvestigation cycle for 
those who hold DOD security clearances and have signed a consent form 
that is still in effect; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Department of the Navy.

Organization/system name: Human Resource Trend Analysis; 
Description: Is used to improve Navy readiness. Data on personnel 
manning levels are mined to ensure that each Navy unit has the correct 
number of training personnel aboard; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: U.S. Naval Academy; 
Description: Allows for the assessment of academic performance of 
midshipmen. It includes demographic information, information on grades, 
participation in sports, leadership positions, etc. It is an extension 
of the registrar's system and is mined for comparisons and trends; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Navy Training Master Planning System; 
Description: Provides overall Navy training information to assist in 
delivering Navy training in the most efficient manner. Pertinent data 
from multiple databases are consolidated into a single database that is 
mined; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: DHAMS Multidimensional Cubes; 
Description: Is a database that contains information on the time and 
attendance of 3,000 mariners across 120 ships. Allows managers to look 
at what people were doing at a particular time and to look across the 
fleet as a whole and compare ship activities; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: National Cargo Tracking Plan Cargo Tracking 
Division; 
Description: Is used to conduct predictive analysis for 
counterterrorism, small weapons of mass destruction proliferation, 
narcotics, alien smuggling, and other high- interest activities 
involving container shipping activity; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Supply Management System Multidimensional 
Cubes; 
Description: Reduces downtime on ships by allowing for the analysis of 
ship parts information. The data warehouse contains data on every part 
that has been ordered since the 1980s, and has multidimensional 
information on each part. Failure rates can be calculated and 
improvements can be identified; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Type Commanders Readiness Management System; 
Description: Is designed to provide a fully integrated environment for 
online analytical processing of readiness indicators. Examples of 
readiness indicators include status of supplies available, equipment in 
operation, health status, and capabilities of the crew; 
Purpose: Measuring military readiness; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: FATHOM (APMC--Human Resources); 
Description: Will be an internal program and project tool used to 
improve staffing, recruiting, and managing day-to- day operations; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Navy Training Quota Management System; 
Description: Is used for planning and forecasting training needs based 
on skill requirements; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: 

Organization/system name: OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing); 
Description: Will provide aggregations of imagery system performance 
data for management officers and senior source decision makers to 
characterize system performance and contribution to intelligence issues 
of national priority; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: CITO Data Mining; 
Description: Will evaluate and identify imagery system performance 
trends for optimization, monitoring, or reengineering; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Information Relevance Prototype; 
Description: Will establish an information relevancy prototype to serve 
as a framework for community evaluation of commercial information 
relevance approaches, methods, and technology. The term information 
relevance refers to the ability of users to receive or extract, then 
display and describe, information with measurable satisfaction 
according to their need; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

U.S. Marine Corps: 

Organization/system name: Operational Data Store Enterprise; 
Description: Is used for workforce planning; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Global Combat Support Systems--Marine Corps; 
Description: Will be a physical implementation of the IT enterprise 
architecture designed to support both improved and enhanced marine air/
ground task force combat service support functions and commander and 
combatant commander joint task force combatant support information 
requirements. Data mining will allow for interoperability with legacy 
Marine Corps systems and allow for a shared data environment; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Total Force Data Warehouse; 
Description: Is a system whose primary purpose is workforce planning 
and workforce policy decision making. It contains current (after 30 
days) and historical workforce data; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Marine Corps Recruiting Information Support 
System; 
Description: Is a Web-based information system used for managing assets 
and tracking enlisted and officer accessions into the Marine Corps; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Defense.

[End of table]

Table 5: Department of Education's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Citizenship of PLUS Loan Borrowers--National 
Student Loan Data Systems; 
Description: Looks for issues regarding citizenship among its PLUS loan 
borrowers. Flags records based on selected criteria and requests 
additional information from schools; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Foreign Schools Initiatives National Student 
Loan Data System/Central Processing; 
Description: Is a proactive investigation effort that looks at whether 
financial aid was granted individuals attending foreign institutions 
during periods of nonenrollment; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Professional Judgment Practices: Title IV 
Pell Grants, National Student Loan Data; 
Description: Used to determine when professional judgment has been 
exercised for "special" situations where families cannot afford college 
expenses; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Title IV Applicant--Death Database Match; 
Description: Compares Department of Education data with the Social 
Security Administration's death database to detect fraud or criminal 
activity; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Title IV Loans with No Applications; 
Description: Will compare information from the Free Application for 
Federal Student Aid Program with the Federal Family Education Loan 
Program to identify fraud; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: OIG--Project Strikeback; 
Description: Compares Department of Education and Federal Bureau of 
Investigation data for anomalies. Also verifies personal identifiers; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Accuracy of U.S. Department of Education 
Personal Data; 
Description: Audits and verifies personal information that is contained 
in the Department of Education's personal data system; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Impact of Cohort Default Rate Redefinition- 
-National Student Loan Data System; 
Description: Audits data to determine the impact of legislation that 
extended the college loan repayment default period from 180 to 270 
days; 
Purpose: Legislative impact; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: CheckFree Software/Purchase Card Program; 
Description: Takes monthly billing information from the Bank of America 
to create reports on purchases, purchase quantity, and frequency of 
purchases. Data are mined for instances of fraud or abuse; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Improper Pell Grant Payment Activity; 
Description: Will compare Pell Grants issued with the amounts received 
and look at the eligibility of grant recipients; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Title IV Identity Theft Initiative; 
Description: Helps identify patterns and trends in identity theft cases 
involving loans for education. Provides an investigative resource for 
victims of identity theft; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Title IV Applicant--Use of Multiple Addresses/
Central Processing System; 
Description: Reviews addresses listed on Title IV applications to see 
if they are valid. For example, jails or employment addresses are not 
considered valid addresses; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Lapsed Funds/Improper Draw of Federal Grant 
Proceeds; 
Description: Identifies funds that remain in the grants and payment 
processing system beyond the time period for allocating the funds; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Decision Support System with Online 
Analytical Processing Query; 
Description: Will support the department's performance-based 
initiative. Will allow custom queries of schools from state and local 
databases for demographics and test scores; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Grant Administration and Payment System; 
Description: Assists in managing grant activities and aids in detecting 
instances of fraud or abuse in grant activities; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Budget Execution Support; 
Description: Uses information in the National Student Loan Data System 
and a sample drawn from it to estimate cohort distributions for 
financial activities related to the Federal Family Education Loan 
Program pursuant to the Credit Reform Act; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Pell Grant Model Assumptions; 
Description: Provides estimates on the total cost of the Pell Grant 
program. It uses data from previous years and makes assumptions for 
future years; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: National Student Loan Data System; 
Description: Compiles student loan information from the guaranteeing 
agencies. Is used for eligibility tracking and to calculate default 
rates; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Loan Model Assumptions; 
Description: Estimates the cost of loan programs. Also analyzes loan 
default behavior; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 
Projects: Tumbleweed/Snowball; 
Description: Is part of an OIG investigation to determine potential 
fraud of financial aid grants primarily in New Hampshire; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Central Processing System; 
Description: Processes applications for student aid. Contains data on 
more than 13 million applications. Data are mined for demographic 
trends; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Direct Loan Services System; 
Description: Is used to track the life of student direct loans and to 
monitor loan repayments; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: CheckFree Software/Travel Card Program; 
Description: Uses monthly billing information from Bank of America to 
create reports on travel expenditures to look for improper use of 
travel cards; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Education.

[End of table]

Table 6: Department of Energy's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Counterintelligence Automated Investigative 
Management System (CI-AIMS); 
Description: Is an investigative management system used by Department 
of Energy (DOE) field sites to track investigative cases on individuals 
or countries that threaten DOE assets. Information stored in this 
database is also used to support federal and state law enforcement 
agencies in support of national security; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Autonomy; 
Description: Will be used to mine a myriad intelligence-related 
databases within the intelligence community to uncover criminal or 
terrorist activities relating to DOE assets; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Counterintelligence Analytical Research Data 
System (CARDS); 
Description: Is used to log briefings and debriefings given to DOE 
employees who travel to foreign countries or interact with foreign 
visitors to DOE facilities. Data are mined to identify potential 
threats to DOE assets; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Department of Energy.

[End of table]
 
Table 7: Department of Health and Human Services' Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: 

Organization/system name: National Patient Safety Network; 
Description: Will contain reports on adverse medical events that are 
filed by hospitals. The planned network's purpose is to take out 
patient personal identifiers and other items that may violate certain 
rules and create a warehouse that can be used by registered and 
unregistered users to evaluate and implement patient safety and quality 
measures. The network will be used to create tools that hospitals can 
use for making quality improvements; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 

Organization/system name: BioSense; 
Description: Enhances the nation's capability to rapidly detect 
bioterrorism events; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Department of Health and Human Services Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: DHHS Blood Monitoring Program; 
Description: Monitors the country's blood supply by keeping an 
inventory on red blood cells and platelets and monitors blood supply 
shortages, the nature of the shortage, and size of the shortages; 
Purpose: Monitoring public health; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Food and Drug Administration: 

Organization/system name: Mission Accomplishment and Regulatory 
Compliance Services System; 
Description: Is a comprehensive redesign and reengineering of two core 
mission-critical legacy systems at Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
that support the regulatory functions that primarily take place in 
FDA's field offices; 
Purpose: Monitoring food or drug safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Turbo Establishment Inspection Report; 
Description: Provides a standardized database of citations of 
regulations and statutes, and help investigators in preparing reports. 
It will collect data on specific observations uncovered during 
inspections and provide a more uniform format nationwide that will 
allow for electronic searches and statistical analysis to be performed 
by citation; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Phonetic Orthographic Computer Analysis; 
Description: Is a search engine that provides results indicating how 
similar two drug names are on a phonetic and orthographic basis. Its 
purpose is to help in the safety evaluation of proposed proprietary 
names to reduce drug name confusion after an application is approved by 
the FDA; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: MPRIS Data Warehouse; 
Description: Will provide data to support end user ad-hoc query 
analysis and standard reporting needs. It will provide the foundation 
for a central reporting repository that can be used to populate 
business-specific data marts; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Development and Deployment of Advanced 
Analytical Tools for Drug Safety Risk Assessment; 
Description: Will develop advanced software tools for quantitative 
analysis of drug safety data. Medical officers and safety evaluators 
will use these advances in software tools; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Add data mining capability to CFSAN Adverse 
Event Reporting System; 
Description: Is a comprehensive system for tracking, reviewing, and 
reporting adverse event incidences involving foods, cosmetics, and 
dietary supplements. Integrating and centralizing the system and 
eliminating patchwork systems make information on these adverse events 
available to federal, state, and local governments as well as to 
industry and the public in a more timely and efficient manner; 
Purpose: Monitoring food or drug safety; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Health Resources and Services Administration: 

Organization/system name: HRSA Geospatial Data Warehouse; 
Description: Data warehouse that primarily collects programmatic, 
demographic, and statistical data; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Program Support Center: 

Organization/system name: Employee Assistance Program Analysis; 
Description: Uses information from a database of employee assistance 
program case information that does not contain client personal 
identifiers. Data are mined for quality assurance and program 
management information that is used to enhance the quality and cost 
effectiveness of services; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services.

[End of table]

Table 8: Department of Homeland Security's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 
Border and Transportation Security Directorate: 

Organization/system name: Workforce Profile Data Mart; 
Description: Contains payroll and personnel data and is mined for 
workforce trends; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Customs Integrated Personnel Payroll System 
Data Mart; 
Description: Is a Customs data mart contained within Department of 
Homeland Security's workforce profile data mart. Personnel and payroll 
data are mined for workforce trends; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Internal Affairs Treasury Enforcement 
Communications System Audit Data Mart; 
Description: Assists the Internal Affairs group by mining criminal 
activity data to ascertain how Customs' employees are using the 
Treasury Enforcement System; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Operations Management Reports Data Mart; 
Description: Assists in managing the operation of all ports of entry 
for incoming carriers, people, and cargo. Helps in making resource 
(people and equipment) allocation and operational improvement 
decisions; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Automated Export System Data Mart; 
Description: Mines data on export trade in the U.S. and produces 
reports on historical shipping and receiving trends; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Seized Property/; 
Forfeitures, Penalties, and Fines Case Management Data Mart; 
Description: Mines data to ensure data quality and review work 
assignments. System has two components: one that processes legal cases 
like a law firm, and a second that serves as property and inventory 
control by tracking property seized; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Incident Data Mart; 
Description: Will look through incident logs for patterns of events. An 
incident is an event involving a law enforcement or government agency 
for which a log was created (e.g., traffic ticket, drug arrest, or 
firearm possession). The system may look at crimes in a particular 
geographic location, particular types of arrests, or any type of 
unusual activity; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Case Management Data Mart; 
Description: Assists in managing law enforcement cases, including 
Customs cases. Reviews case loads, status, and relationships among 
cases; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate: 

Organization/system name: Enterprise Data Warehouse; 
Description: Will take data from multiple, disparate systems and 
integrate the data into one reporting environment. The objective of the 
effort is to allow for the reduction of data within the agency and to 
provide an enterprise view of information necessary to drive critical 
business processes and decisions. Data on internal human resources, all 
aspects of disaster management, infrastructure, equipment location, 
etc., will be used; 
Purpose: Disaster response and recovery; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate: 

Organization/system name: Analyst Notebook I2; 
Description: Correlates events and people to specific information; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Automatic Message Handling System (Verity); 
Description: Automatically takes messages from external agencies and 
routes them to appropriate recipients; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

U.S. Coast Guard: 

Organization/system name: Readiness Management System; 
Description: Assists in ensuring readiness for all Coast Guard 
missions; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: CG Info; 
Description: Provides one-stop shopping for Coast Guard information. It 
is the central location and common interface for the entire Coast Guard 
to gain near real-time access to data from multiple, disparate Coast 
Guard information systems. It provides a single interface for users to 
view mission-critical support data; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

U.S. Secret Service: 

Organization/system name: Criminal Investigation Division Data Mining; 
Description: Mines data in suspicious activity reports received from 
banks to find commonalities in data to assist in strategically 
allocating resources; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Department of Homeland Security.

[End of table]
 
Table 9: Department of the Interior's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Minerals Management Service: 

Organization/system name: Data Mining of the Technical Information 
Management System (TIMS) Database; 
Description: Is a corporate database for oil and gas leases. The 
database is mined in support of policy development. One area of data 
mining is identification of leases that will be abandoned in the near 
future. Data mining has shown that leases with six or more producing 
wells in 1 year are almost never abandoned in the next year. Another 
application of data mining is the safety of oil and gas operations. For 
example, data mining has shown that accidents have a peak rate on 
Thursday mornings; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of the Interior.

[End of table]
 

Table 10: Department of Justice's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Department of Justice Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: Drug/Financial Fusion Center; 
Description: Will contain data from, and be used by, Organized Crime 
and Drug Enforcement Task Force agencies. The system will permit the 
collection and cross case analysis of all drug and related financial 
investigative data; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Drug Enforcement Administration: 

Organization/system name: Statistical Management Analysis and Reporting 
Tool System (SMARTS) /SPSS; 
Description: Is a query analysis and reporting tool that pulls data 
from many systems. It allows for statistical analyses of drug cases 
Drug Enforcement Administration's statistical reporting; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: TOLLS; 
Description: Is a database of telephone calls from court ordered and 
approved wiretaps and Title III investigations. Information such as 
telephone numbers, time and date of calls, and call duration is 
captured. Data are mined for patterns to give leads in investigations 
of drug trafficking; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Federal Bureau of Investigation: 

Organization/system name: Secure Collaborative Operational Prototype 
Environment/; 
Investigative Data Warehouse; 
Description: Allows the FBI to search multiple data sources through one 
interface to uncover terrorist and criminal activities and 
relationships. Data sources are a combination of structured and 
unstructured text; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force 
Activity; 
Description: Supports the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force that 
seeks to prevent foreign terrorists from gaining access to the United 
States. Data from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau 
of Investigation, and public data sources are put into a data mart and 
mined to determine unlawful entry and to support deportations and 
prosecutions; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: FBI Intelligence Community Data Marts; 
Description: Is intended to take a subset of approved data from a data 
warehouse and make it available to the intelligence community; 
Purpose: Analyzing intelligence and detecting terrorist activities; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Federal Bureau of Prisons: 

Organization/system name: Business Information Warehouse; 
Description: Will be a warehouse designed to provide information on 
manufacturing by Federal Prison Industries, which runs 100 factories in 
various prisons. Data will be mined for information on the 
manufacturing environment (such as information on material on hand, 
scheduling, and the production process) and financial activities; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

U.S. Marshals Service: 

Organization/system name: USMS Workload Modeling; 
Description: Will seek to develop a workforce model that will support 
budget formulation, execution, and resource analysis. Will be a 
planning and execution activity that will be used to help determine the 
quantity and location of required resources; 
Purpose: Managing human resources; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Justice.

[End of table]
 

Table 11: Department of Labor's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Dashboard Display; 
Description: Provides links to programs throughout the Department of 
Labor's Employment Training Administration to provide reports or 
information on financial activities; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Enforcement Management System, Case Opening, 
and Results Analysis; 
Description: Is used to track investigations of violations of Title I 
and other criminal laws pertaining to pension and welfare rights; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Data 
System; 
Description: Is used to monitor compliance with Title I of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Mine Safety and Health Administration 
Teradata Data Store; 
Description: Mines data from a data store of information on safety and 
health enforcement and demographic data for mine operations, along with 
miner accidents, injury, and illness data; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Mathematical Statistics Research Center; 
Description: Will look at data from economic surveys to compare rates 
of nonresponse for Bureau of Labor Statistics; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Labor.

[End of table]

Table 12: Department of State's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Citibank's Ad Hoc Reporting System; 
Description: Enables purchase card managers to track trends related to 
the usage of credit cards by employees in purchasing supplies and 
services for official use. Purchase card program is worldwide, and 
spending patterns and purchases are monitored for potential misuse or 
fraud; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Purchase Card Management System; 
Description: Will involve the automation of internal workflow processes 
(system is in the early phases of development). Will use internal data 
and bank data to track trends and anomalies in the Department of 
State's worldwide purchase card program; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of State.

[End of table]

Table 13: Department of Transportation's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Department of Transportation Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: DOT IT Security Management System; 
Description: Will collect information to allow management to assess its 
IT security infrastructure; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 

Organization/system name: State Data System; 
Description: Analyzes, mines, and researches automotive crash data, 
such as statistics from rollovers of SUVs, from 22 states to improve 
highway safety and lessen fatalities. Policies can be set based on the 
data; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS); 
Description: Helps to evaluate the effectiveness of motor vehicle 
safety standards and highway safety programs. Data are collected from 
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico and are used 
to evaluate and support highway safety; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: National Automotive Sampling System; 
Description: Collects and mines information on automotive crashes. 
System is related to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that 
regulate vehicle compliance items such as seat belts, air bags, and the 
stopping distance of brakes; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Transportation.

[End of table]

Table 14: Department of the Treasury's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Financial Management Service: 

Organization/system name: Treasury Offset Program (TOP) Cleanup; 
Description: Mines data to reduce the number of debts listed in TOP; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) 
Marketing; 
Description: Is a free service offered by the Department of the 
Treasury for individuals and business taxpayers who pay their federal 
taxes electronically. Mining activity tracks enrollment, tax payment 
history, and usage trends; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Internal Revenue Service: 

Organization/system name: Planning, Analysis, and Decision Support 
System; 
Description: Will be a component of the Custodial Accounting Program, 
which is the warehouse that is used to query transactional data and 
produce reports. This activity is meant to improve reporting and use 
decision support tools; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Abusive Corporate Tax Shelter Detection Model; 
Description: Will model characteristics of corporate tax shelters and 
use models to predict corporate tax shelter abuse and to assess 
compliance risk in the corporate taxpayer population; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: K-1 Link Analysis; 
Description: Will be used to detect potential tax evasion; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Research on the Population of Taxpayers Who 
Receive Earned Income Tax Credit; 
Description: Will be used to research data on taxpayers who receive the 
EITC; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Issue Based Management Information System; 
Description: Will provide access to a variety of data sources within 
IRS. Will assist in research and case work; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Electronic Fraud Detection System; 
Description: Mines data to evaluate and rate potentially fraudulent 
individual tax returns; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Reveal; 
Description: Will be used to detect financial criminal activity such as 
tax evasion; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Oracle Model 22 Partnership Return Scoring 
System; 
Description: Takes information from individual tax returns and attempts 
to replicate judgments made by taxpayers to detect the likelihood of 
material errors; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: SPSS Form 1120-S Return Scoring System; 
Description: Will automate the classification of certain corporate tax 
returns; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Oracle Model 33 Partnership Scoring Model; 
Description: Will identify noncompliance in partnership returns; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Compliance Laboratory; 
Description: Will identify taxpayer noncompliance by looking at groups 
of returns; 
Purpose: Increasing tax compliance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

U.S. Mint: 

Organization/system name: Information Technology Intrusion Detection 
System; 
Description: Collects information on potential intrusions to U.S. Mint 
systems. Looks for trends in information reported by sensors to 
determine if illicit activity has occurred. Minimizes false positives; 
Purpose: Improving information security; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: E-Commerce Fraud Analysis Activity; 
Description: Attempts to identify and stop fraudulent activity 
involving stolen credit cards to order products over the Internet or 
via telephone. Fraud rating identifiers are used to identify areas 
where fraud has occurred and to determine the likelihood of fraud. 
Allows for orders to be stopped or for orders over a certain dollar 
limit to be stopped; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Data Warehouse; 
Description: Will be an integrated, scalable, expandable data warehouse 
that will support business functions by grouping the data in subject-
oriented data marts. Each warehouse data mart will be defined to 
integrate both internal and external data to provide the necessary 
information to perform both historical and predictive analysis and 
support numerous calculations; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of the Treasury.

[End of table]

Table 15: Department of Veterans Affairs' Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Department of Veterans Affairs Headquarters: 

Organization/system name: Veterans Affairs Central Incident Response 
Center; 
Description: Is used to monitor and manage intrusion detection and 
firewalls. Scripts are written for forensic analysis to go through data 
collected from system and network logs; 
Purpose: Detecting criminal activities or patterns; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Purchase Card Data Mining (SAS) Reports; 
Description: Will identify patterns in purchase card use to identify 
fraud and misuse and to maintain good internal controls; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Travel Card Data Mining (SAS) Reports; 
Description: Will be used to look for patterns in the use of travel 
credit cards that indicate misuse or fraud and to maintain good 
internal controls; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Office of Inspector General (OIG); 
Description: Analyzes and matches (within the guidelines of the law) 
Veterans Affairs (VA) files, pertaining to both VA-provided benefits 
and health care services to detect patterns of waste, fraud, or abuse; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Veterans Benefits Administration: 

Organization/system name: C & P Payment Data Analysis; 
Description: Analyzes compensation and pension data to detect fraud, 
waste, and abuse; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: C & P Large Payment Verification Process; 
Description: Serves as an internal control intended to make sure that 
payments over a certain dollar threshold are reviewed to detect 
potential fraud or abuse; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Veterans Health Administration: 

Organization/system name: Primary Analysis and Classification; 
Description: Is used mainly to discover trends, incidents/events, and 
vulnerabilities that may exist in VA hospitals; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Allocation Resource Center Database; 
Description: Is used in making resource allocation decisions based on 
the analysis of patient workload and cost data; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) 
Financial and Clinical Data Mart; 
Description: Integrates patient, clinical, and financial data to 
present a unified management perspective and enable consistent 
reporting; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Decision Support System; 
Description: Is used to identify patterns of care and patient outcomes 
linked to resource consumption and costs associated with each patient 
encounter; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Top 50 Standardization Listing/Managed 
Inventory System; 
Description: Is used to standardize medical and hospital supplies and 
equipment to (1) improve VHA's bargaining position when soliciting bids 
and (2) facilitate the ability to move doctors among hospitals; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: VISN 16 Data Warehouse; 
Description: Provides unified view of the VISN 16 VA region, composed 
of 10 medical centers and 30 outpatient clinics. The system gives a 
view of the enterprise for management purposes. It is mined for a 
variety of types of information such as patient encounters, lab tests, 
pharmacy records, etc; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Department of Veterans Affairs.

[End of table]

Table 16: Environmental Protection Agency's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Conceptual Plans to Design an Approach and 
System to Review Financial Data; 
Description: Will regularly review financial data systems for 
contracts, bank cards, and small purchases and other financial 
databases for misuse or fraud of Environmental Protection Agency's 
assets; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Drinking Water Data Warehouse; 
Description: Integrates and analyzes drinking water information from 
state, regional, and headquarters sources. Includes data on water 
systems, compliance, sample analytical results, and audit data; 
Purpose: Monitoring public health; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency.

[End of table]

Table 17: Export-Import Bank of the United States' Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Integrated Information System Data Warehouse 
Mining for Financial Risk Information; 
Description: Is used to generate reports that describe bank lending 
activities and exposure trends; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Export-Import Bank of the United States.

[End of table]

Table 18: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Real Estate Stress Test (RSST); 
Description: Is used to measure real estate risk. Bank examiners use 
data from the system data as part of a pre-examination planning process 
to assist in identifying risk concentrations; 
Purpose: Detecting risk in financial systems; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Determination of Insured Deposits; 
Description: Will support the development of a new system for 
implementing the deposit insurance claims; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Statistical CAMELS Offsite Review; 
Description: Is used to rate financial institutions' performance and 
risk management practices; 
Purpose: Detecting risk in financial systems; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Growth Monitoring System; 
Description: Is used to identify financial institutions that have 
experienced significant growth. Serves as an early warning system for 
detecting financial institutions that might pose financial risk to 
FDIC; 
Purpose: Detecting risk in financial systems; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

[End of table]

Table 19: Federal Reserve System's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Audit 
Services; 
Description: Will support audits and evaluations. Using ACL, queries 
will be run against the board's financial and personnel systems to 
detect fraud, waste, and abuse, or to provide information supporting 
any aspect of an OIG project; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste, and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Federal Reserve System.

[End of table]

Table 20: National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Inventory of 
Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Archiving of Web Information at National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Goddard Space Federal 
Center (GSFC); 
Description: Will gather metadata on the GSFC Web site at NASA to 
preserve NASA legacy information; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: My Goddard Search--Mining of Goddard's Web 
environment; 
Description: Will allow Web mining of scientific data at Goddard Space 
Center. It is referred to as "Google for Goddard."; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: NetContext; 
Description: Will monitor network traffic for the purpose of 
identifying bandwidth use, fraud, abuse, and IT security-related 
activities; 
Purpose: Detecting fraud, waste and abuse; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Geophysics Time Series Analysis; 
Description: Will develop a set of algorithms to identify patterns 
within temporal activities. The data will be trajectories of objects 
and movement of objects within images; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: "Simmarizer" (Simulation-Based Summary/ 
Discovery of Knowledge); 
Description: Uses data mining techniques to extract knowledge from 
simulators to understand conditions and scenarios regarding space 
missions; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Global Environmental and Earth Science 
Information System (GENESIS); 
Description: Is used to obtain information about global climate 
changes; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Machine Learning and Data Mining for Improved 
Intelligent Data Understanding of High Dimensional Earth Sensed Data; 
Description: Will find patterns and relationships in large, complex 
earth science data sets, specifically for rare and small events hidden 
in larger data signals. Will build new capabilities to understand NASA 
science data; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Distributed Data Mining Techniques for Object 
Discovery in the National Virtual Observatory (NVO); 
Description: Involves using a data mining tool set for space science 
research. Incorporates a small number of targeted data mining 
techniques in order to address specific NASA space science research 
programs. In particular, the data mining environment will be used to 
explore NASA's large space science data collections. These techniques 
are being applied to astronomical object discovery, identification, 
classification, and interpretation across large multiple distributed 
astronomy data collections; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Diamond Eye (System for Mining Images); 
Description: Analyzes large sets of images looking for specific 
features; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Data Mining of 3-D Numerical Model Forecast 
Output and Its Application to Atmospheric Research; 
Description: Will automate the analysis of weather model output, 
observation, and satellite data to allow for a better understanding of 
the science of weather dynamics and to predict future weather events; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Ecological Forecasting; 
Description: Will develop an adaptable system that can be used to mine 
large volumes of scientific data, identify novel causal relationships 
in the data about earth system processes, and rapidly incorporate 
discoveries with biospheric models to generate now-casts and forecasts 
of biospheric events and conditions; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Distributed Data Mining for Large NASA 
Databases (Earth Science Earth Observing System Data); 
Description: Will research changes, trends, and relationships in Earth 
Observing System (EOS) data. The major feature of this activity is that 
it will allow for different data to be mined in parts and then merged. 
The capability is needed for instances when scientific data are at 
different locations. A research quality software will be used to allow 
for a communication system and run-time environment for applying a 
collective data analysis approach not bound to any specific platform, 
learning algorithm, or representation of knowledge; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Discovery of Changes from the Global Carbon 
Cycle and Climate System Using Data Mining Activity; 
Description: Will detect patterns in scientific data that are 
geospatial and dynamic and represented as raster data (gridded cells of 
surfaces such as the sun's or earth's surfaces). Mining capabilities 
are being developed for future NASA-relevant data and science; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: "AutoSciProd" (Automatic Generation of 
Science Products from Large Image Data Sets); 
Description: Uses statistical and image data to determine and improve 
science products; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Near Archive Data Mining of Earth Science 
Data; 
Description: Pulls data from an archive of earth science data and 
applies scientists' analyses and algorithms to the data; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Spectral Analysis Automation (SAA) System; 
Description: Will improve the collection, identification, and 
evaluation of spectral data to better meet scientists' requirements; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Multiple Sensor Image Registration, Image 
Fusion and Dimension Reduction Using Wavelets; 
Description: Will be used for collaborative preprocessing of data and 
research on wavelets. Will comprise research software that looks at 
different technologies such as image processing and dimensions; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: GMSEC Event Message Data Mining Task; 
Description: Will be used to determine health of and reasons for 
problems with satellite systems; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Intrusion Detection System; 
Description: Looks at all traffic that traverses NASA's networks' 
borders; 
Purpose: Improving information security; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: AvSP/ASMM Foreign Object Detection Toolset; 
Description: Is used with simulations to identify foreign object damage 
indicators for commercial jet engines; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Mission and Science Measurement and Discovery 
Systems; 
Description: Will be a basic technology research program that will also 
support infusion of resulting technologies into NASA missions. Purpose 
of the program is to solve the research challenge in extracting the 
most scientific knowledge from NASA's space missions and data archives; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: StarTool: Solar Active Region Detection; 
Description: Is used for recognition of solar activity in sequences of 
multiband solar images; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: "Toogle" (Times-Series Search Engine); 
Description: Searches for time-series data. Is similar to a Google 
search engine; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Use of Data Mining, Remote Sensing, and 
Geographic Information Systems for Wildfire Detection and Prediction; 
Description: Will help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration automate its fire detection systems and improve the 
accuracy of fire detection systems; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Based on 
Hierarchical Image Segmentation; 
Description: Will mine data using software that has been developed to 
exploit information from a hierarchical image segmentation process; 
Purpose: Analyzing scientific and research information; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

[End of table]

Table 21: Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Licensee Event Report Data; 
Description: Identifies nuclear safety trends and patterns in 
commercial nuclear power events; 
Purpose: Improving safety; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: Centralized Information Delivery; 
Description: Will consolidate and standardize reporting for nuclear 
reactor regulations; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[End of table]

Table 22: Office of Personnel Management's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Organization/system name: CRIS Retirement Data Mining Activity; 
Description: Mines federal employee benefits data such as information 
on retirement and life insurance to assist in managing federal employee 
eligibilities and entitlements; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Office of Personnel Management.

[End of table]

Table 23: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Inventory of Data 
Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Corporate Performance Indicators and 
Analytics; 
Description: Will streamline access to management and operational 
performance measures and permit the correlation of performance and 
output measures; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Planned; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Organization/system name: Corporate Policy and Research Department's 
Forecasting System; 
Description: Is a stochastic simulation model that incorporates 
historic equity and interest rates and bankruptcy possibilities to 
forecast scenarios for more than 300 pension plans and their related 
corporate sponsors; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: No; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

[End of table]

Table 24: Railroad Retirement Board's Inventory of Data Mining Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Railroad Retirement Board Data Stores; 
Description: Consists of two major databases (payment and entitlement 
history and employment data maintenance) that are mined by actuaries to 
produce annual actuarial reports and for audit support and quality 
control; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: Yes.

Source: Railroad Retirement Board.

[End of table]

Table 25: Small Business Administration's Inventory of Data Mining 
Efforts: 

Organization/system name: Loan Monitoring System; 
Description: Helps to identify, measure, and manage the risk of Small 
Business Administration's portfolio. Business credit scores are used 
but individual credit scores are not; 
Purpose: Improving service or performance; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: Yes; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Organization/system name: MONSTER and Econometric Models; 
Description: Mines data from database that includes all transactions 
for each loan that affects SBA subsidy costs, to assist in determining 
credit subsidy rates for SBA's various credit programs; 
Purpose: Financial management; 
Status: Operational; 
Features: Personal information: Yes; 
Features: Private sector data: No; 
Features: Other agency data: No.

Source: Small Business Administration. 

[End of table]

(310366): 

FOOTNOTES

[1] As used in this report, personal information is all information 
associated with an individual and includes both identifying information 
and nonidentifying information. Identifying information, which can be 
used to locate or identify an individual, includes name, aliases, 
Social Security number, e-mail address, driver's license number, and 
agency-assigned case number. Nonidentifying personal information 
includes age, education, finances, criminal history, physical 
attributes, and gender.

[2] That is, we asked about both systems explicitly dedicated to data 
mining and activities using automated tools to "mine" databases that 
are part of other systems. In this report, we use the word "efforts" to 
refer to both systems and activities, unless otherwise specified.

[3] Lou Agosta, "Data Mining Is Dead--Long Live Predictive Analytics!" 
(Forrester Research, Oct. 30, 2003), http://www.forrester.com/
Research/LegacyIT/0,7208,33030,00.html (downloaded Jan. 26, 2004).

[4] For more information on the uses of data mining in GAO audits, see 
U.S. General Accounting Office, Data Mining: Results and Challenges for 
Government Programs, Audits, and Investigations, GAO-03-591T 
(Washington, D.C: Mar. 25, 2003).

[5] Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security (New 
York City: The Markle Foundation, December 2003), http://
www.markletaskforce.org/Report2_Full_Report.pdf (downloaded Mar. 8, 
2004).

[6] Five states are currently participating in the MATRIX pilot 
project: Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

[7] Roger Clarke, "Information Technology and Dataveillance," 
Communications of the ACM, vol. 31, issue 5 (New York City: ACM Press, 
May 1988), http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/DV/CACM88.html 
(downloaded Mar. 5, 2004). Clarke defines mass dataveillance as the 
systematic use of personal data systems in the investigation or 
monitoring of the actions or communications of groups of people.

[8] K.A. Taipale, "Data Mining and Domestic Security: Connecting the 
Dots to Make Sense of Data," The Columbia Science and Technology Law 
Review, vol. V, 2003-2004 (New York City: Columbia Law School, 2004), 
http://www.stlr.org/cite.cgi?volume=5&article=2 (downloaded Mar. 18, 
2004). 

[9] These privacy concerns are reflected in the Fair Information 
Practices proposed in 1980 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 
1981. These practices govern collection limitation, purpose 
specification, use limitation, data quality, security safeguards, 
openness, individual participation, and accountability.

[10] Agencies that did not respond to our survey are (1) the Central 
Intelligence Agency; (2) the Corporation for National and Community 
Services; (3) the Department of Army, Department of Defense; (4) the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (5) the National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior; (6) the National Security Agency, 
Department of Defense; and (7) the Rural Utilities Service, Department 
of Agriculture.

[11] In a structured interview, the interviewer asks the same questions 
of numerous individuals or individuals representing numerous 
organizations in a precise manner, offering each interviewee the same 
set of possible responses.

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