A GAO report issued yesterday entitled, Data Mining: Federal Efforts Cover a Wide Range of Uses reveals that government agencies are conducting or planning nearly 200 data mining programs for a variety purposes, from identifying terrorists and other criminals to managing human resources. Requested last year by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the report also explained that agencies are heavily relying on private sector data in those programs.

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.

Here’s a little background from the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Letter to Sen. Akaka from CDT, ACLU, EPIC

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