Fla. Matrix Database Would Tap Into Insurance Records

Florida insurance companies could be required to provide customer information if Florida law officials implement a comprehensive Multi-state Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, or Matrix database, now being contemplated.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is seeking proposals and
taking bids to expand a database for police to include credit and insurance information, even for those never accused of a crime.

Florida police already use a network that includes everything but financial and insurance information.

Florida led the charge on Matrix, a pilot project that started with $10.5-million in federal grants and drew the ire of privacy advocates.

Florida’s call for information about a Matrix successor may also raise eyebrows because it requires the vendor to have financial and insurance information, and the tools to analyze that information.

FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said Florida is still using Matrix’s operating system, but it is no longer linked to other states.

“The ultimate goal is to expand this capability to all states,” according to the request, and vendors are asked to provide something that can easily be expanded.

FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell said having additional information could assist police in solving financial crimes and identity theft.

The added information would be an extension of the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange project known as Matrix that began with 13 states and officially ended in April. Matrix combined criminal histories and public records such as drivers’ licenses and property information.

The FDLE is asking companies how they would provide police across Florida with access to portions of people’s credit reports and wants to find out which records “are readily available to law enforcement without subpoena or court order.”

The FDLE proposal is seeking credit header information, including a person’s name, current and previous address, phone number, date of birth and Social Security number.

“We are legally entitled to that,” Mark Zadra, FLDE’s chief of investigations for its Office of Statewide Intelligence said.

Zadra said that information could be critical for authorities to find a current address of a suspect. He said Florida wants to rebuild the system and hopes other states will join in.

The original system and pilot program was funded by $12 million from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

According to Wired News, Matrix contained billions of commercial and
government records and was consider-

ed overly invasive by civil libertarians. Matrix was supposed to help police track down terrorists and kidnappers, but shut down on April 15 when federal funds ran out.

Civil liberties groups said Florida officials convinced other states to join the Matrix program, in part based on the ability of the system to engage in “pre-crime” profiling of potential terrorists and
criminals.

The American Civil Liberties Union cited privacy concerns and information theft as arguments against the expansion. It called FDLE’s request “a continuing hunger to get its hands on as much information as possible.”

Commercial databases include information on about 98 percent of Americans, Jay Stanley, spokesman for the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project said.

“Do we want to just let that go or
do we want to take steps to protect it?” Stanley asked.