] Unlike a database run by the state's Bureau of Criminal
] Apprehension, the MJNO network doesn't just tell police
] if a person has been convicted of a crime. It also tells
] whether they've ever been arrested or if they appear in
] police files as a victim, a suspect, a complainant or a
] witness. It has juvenile files.

Ever get turned down for a job because you were investigated but not charged with a crime? You will... (This is absolutely aweful. Its clear that this was done outside of the government because its grossly illegal and obviously couldn't get state funding. By retaining data about suspects once cases are over, and about people found innocent by the courts, you turn getting investigated/charged into something that carries a punishment (greater scrutiny forever). By retaining juvenile files you eliminate one of the core features of the juvenile justice system, which is that people who make mistakes when they are young are allow to make good and start again when they grow up. Finally, by doing this with a private company they ensure that this information will ultimately become available to private companies and PIs. This system must be pulled!)

USATODAY.com - Growing use of private police network raises concerns

] In the age of the leak and the blog, of evidence
] extraction and link discovery, truths will either out or
] be outed, later if not sooner. This is something I would
] bring to the attention of every diplomat, politician and
] corporate leader: the future, eventually, will find you
] out. The future, wielding unimaginable tools of
] transparency, will have its way with you. In the end, you
] will be seen to have done that which you did.

William Gibson on Orwell.

NY Times | The Road to Oceania

] Cisco Systems has created a more efficient and targeted
] way for police and intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on
] people whose Internet service provider uses their
] company's routers.
]
] The company recently published a proposal that describes
] how it plans to embed "lawful interception" capability
] into its products. Among the highlights: Eavesdropping
] "must be undetectable," and multiple police agencies
] conducting simultaneous wiretaps must not learn of one
] another. If an Internet provider uses encryption to
] preserve its customers' privacy and has access to the
] encryption keys, it must turn over the intercepted
] communications to police in a descrambled form.

Inside Cisco's eavesdropping apparatus | CNET News.com