document

State-by-State Breakdown on Participation in MATRIX

Document Date: January 16, 2004

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Withdrawn from program (10/17/2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)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

ArizonaInterested in Participating (11/5/2003 Meeting Minutes)N/AArkansasInterested 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Withdrawn from program (9/23/2003, AP)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)

ColoradoInterested 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:

  • Official MATRIX FAQ
  • An Introduction to FACTS
  • Follow-up response
  • Florida

    Active Participant
    Founding Member[1]

    Citizen of Florida? Send a fax asking your state legislator to pull out.

    Filed (10/20/2003)

    Response:

  • MATRIX Project Brochure
  • MATRIX “Success Stories”
  • Seisint’s contract with the Fla. Dept. of Law Enforcement
  • MATRIX meeting minutes from 04/22/2003
  • Justification for Seisint to become the sole source of data integration for MATRIX
  • Texas’s letter of withdrawl from MATRIX
  • Original Objectives for MATRIX
  • Slide show excerpt
  • Grant application excerpt
  • Budget document concerning MATRIX
  • Budget Excerpt
  • Georgia

    Withdrawn from program (1/30/2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Still listed as a participant on MATRIX webpage.

    Filed (01/30/2004)

    Response:

  • Georgia DMV Security Concerns with MATRIX
  • Documents pertaining to Georgia’s involvement in MATRIX
  • MATRIX meeting minutes from 02/06/2003
  • MATRIX meeting minutes from 11/05/2003
  • MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 01/16/2004
  • Georgia Homeland Security Bulletin
  • 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

  • Iowa CLU letter to governor about reported intention to join MATRIX
  • Kentucky

    Withdrawn (10/4/2003, Palm Beach Post)

    N/A

    Louisiana

    Withdrawn from program (10/17/2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

    N/A

    MarylandNot 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.

    Denial of involvement in letter to the ACLU

    Minutes of 11/5/2003 meeting indicate involvement

    Filed (10/30/2003)

    Response:

  • Slide show on MATRIX
  • Brochure on FACTS data mining software
  • 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 CarolinaPotential 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:

  • Various MATRIX documents
  • MATRIX Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 10/07/2002

    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:

  • Seisint’s FACTS for The MATRIX Project
  • Florida’s Original Objectives for MATRIX
  • Proposal for MATRIX Expansion Opportunities
  • MATRIX Data Sharing Chart
  • 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.

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