Study says Data Mining is not the way to fight terrorism

USNewswire:

In order to keep America safe, Harper and Jonas recommend abandoning data mining and putting resources where they matter. "The most efficient, effective approach -- and the one that protects civil liberties -- is the one suggested by 9/11: pulling the strings that connect bad guys to other plotters."

Policy Analysis Paper no. 584: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6784

Cato Institute: http://www.cato.org/

This may be the first time I've linked to a Cato Institute study!

Interesting how similar the conclusions about Data Mining are to intelligence professionals' opinions of using torture as a tactic to fight terrorism.

Besides the small matter that both are against the priciples on which this country is based and are therefore morally and ideologically counterproductive, even pragmatists like the Cato folk agree that it doesn't work, and in fact only manages to confuse investigations with bad information.