Perhaps the biggest concern with regards to intelligence fusion centers at the federal, state, and local levels is the concern over privacy.Since their inception, fusion center officials have taken a number of steps to embed privacy policies and practices into the management of the program.You are the chief privacy officer (CPO)for the Department of Homeland Security assigned to the DHS privacy office.As the CPO, you are responsible for enforcing fusion center privacy policies, including specifically insuring that the methods and technologies used by the fusion centers for intelligence collection and dissemination do not violate privacy protections and that the fusion center complies with fair information practices in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974.One of your primary responsibilities as the CPO is to conduct a privacy impact assessment of the current policies, practices, and proposals involving the collection and disclosure of personal information by fusion centers.In October of2001, the United States enacted the United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act.This new legislation was an effort to update and strengthen laws governing the investigation and prosecution of terrorism.Contained within this act were 16 or statues within the law that would expire at the end of 2005.These provisions were all contained within Title II of the act and dealt with enhanced surveillance procedures for use by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies.Although these provisions were set to expire in 2005, most of these provisions have since been extended.These provisions include the followingsections:A mastermind behind 9/11, Khalid Sheik Mohammad (KSM), was captured in Pakistan in March of 2003.Immediately following his capture, KSM was subjected to a series of controversial interrogation methods, often referred to as .These techniques included the now infamous waterboarding technique. is a technique that involves immobilizing subjects on theirback with their head inclined downwards. The subjects face is then covered with a cloth, and water is poured over the cloth, which ultimately triggers the subjects gag reflex and causes the subject to experience the sensations of drowning.This technique is not a new technique; it has been around for hundreds of years and isused by nations around the world to collect intelligence.You are an intelligence research specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice and have been asked by the U.S. Attorneys office to provide a written brief on the pros and cons of using waterboarding as a technique to collect intelligence.

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