State-by-State Breakdown on Participation in MATRIX
State Involvement in the MATRIX Program
State | Status of Involvement in Program | Status of ACLU FOIA Request |
Alabama | Withdrawn from program (10/17/2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution) | N/A |
| Arizona | Interested in Participating (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
| Arkansas | Interested in Participating (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
California | On 10/7/2002 was elected member of Executive Committee governing program Withdrawn from program (9/23/2003, AP) | Filed (1/21/04) |
| Colorado | Interested in Participating (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
Connecticut | Active Participant (1/8/2004, Connecticut Law Tribune) Citizen of Connecticut? Click here to send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out. | Filed (10/30/2003) Response: |
Florida | Active Participant Citizen of Florida? Send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out. | Filed (10/20/2003) Response: |
Georgia | Withdrawn from program (1/30/2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Still listed as a participant on MATRIX webpage. | Filed (01/30/2004) Response: |
Indiana | "Working with" Florida law enforcement (3/18/04 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
Iowa | Not interested in Participating (3/17/2004, Des Moines Register) | N/A |
Kentucky | Withdrawn (10/4/2003, Palm Beach Post) | N/A |
Louisiana | Withdrawn from program (10/17/2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution) | N/A |
| Maryland | Not Interested in Participating (1/31/2004, AP) | N/A |
Massachusetts | Potential Participant (3/18/04 Meeting Minutes) |
|
Michigan | Active Participant (1/31/2004, AP) Considering withdrawing according to press account (3/19/2004, AP) Citizen of Michigan? Click here to send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out. | Filed (10/30/2003) Response: |
Minnesota | Potential Participant (3/18/04 Meeting Minutes) |
|
Missouri | "Working with" Florida law enforcement (3/18/04 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
New York | Elected member of Executive Committee governing program (10/7/02) Withdrawn from program (NY State Police letter expressing intent to withdraw, 3/10/2004) | Filed (10/30/2003) |
| North Carolina | Potential Participant (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes) | |
Ohio | Active Participant (2/1/2004, AP) Citizen of Ohio? Click here to send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out. | Filed (10/30/2003) |
Oregon | On 10/7/02 was elected member of Executive Committee governing program Withdrawn (10/4/2003 Palm Beach Post) | Filed (1/26/2004) |
Pennsylvania | Active Participant (2/1/2004, AP) On 10/7/02 was elected member of Executive Committee governing program Citizen of Pennsylvania? Click here to send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out. | Filed (10/30/2003) Response: Appeal Filed (1/14/2004) |
South Carolina | Withdrawn (10/4/2003, Palm Beach Post) | N/A |
Tennessee | Potential Participant (2/3/2004, AP) | N/A |
Texas | Withdrawn from program (5/21/2003, from Florida's response to the ACLU's FOIA request) | Filed (02/03/2004) Partial repsonse received (3/5/2004) |
Utah | Withdrawn (1/29/2004, AP) | Filed (11/18/2003) Response: |
West Virginia | Potential Participant (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes) | N/A |
Wisconsin | Joined program on 2/11/04 according to press report Withdrawn (3/10/2004) | N/A |
A few facts of note:
- The MATRIX contains 20 billion records from private databases. It is the largest database on the planet. (USA Today, 11/11/03)
- It has been supplied with information from at least 4 states. (Palm Beach Post, 10/4/03)
- It as already received $12 M in funding from the federal government. (USA Today, 11/11/03)
- It is expected to cost $34 M annually to run and $1.7 M per state. (Palm Beach Post, 10/4/03)
- Hank Asher, the founder of Seisint, has been implicated as a drug smuggler and it was Asher's former company, Database Technologies, that administered the contract that stripped thousands of African Americans from the Florida voter rolls before the 2000 election, erroneously contending that they were felons. (Free Exchange Policy Project, quoting Lucy Morgan, "Troubled Business May Lose Contract with State," St. Petersburg Times, August 13, 2003)
- And a competing data vendor, ChoicePoint, decided not to bid on the project, saying it lacked adequate privacy safeguards. (Toronto Globe & Mail, 9/24/03)
- The project is billed as a tool for state and local police, but organizers are considering giving access to the Central Intelligence Agency, said Phil Ramer, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's intelligence office. (Toronto Globe & Mail, 9/24/03)
- Criminal history files in the database are maintained by 15 Seisint employees, watched over by Florida state police, Mr. Ramer said. Yet a Florida Department of Law Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press shows potential lapses in oversight. The memo says background checks on Seisint's Matrix workers took place only last month, more than a year into the program, and a privacy policy governing the database's use has yet to be finalized. (Toronto Globe & Mail, 9/24/03)
[1] All information on members of MATRIX's Executive Committee comes from documents supplied by the Pennsylvania State Police.
[2] The Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections have all signed Memoranda of Understanding to share information with the MATRIX system.