The document discusses the creation of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) and its consolidated terrorist watch list. The TSC was created in 2003 to combine multiple terrorist watch lists maintained by various government agencies into a single database. This unified list aims to improve information sharing between agencies. However, the watch list has faced criticisms around its management, organization, and data quality. Issues include a lack of standardized policies for adding or removing individuals, rapid growth leading to inclusion of non-terrorists, and poor data integrity resulting in misidentifications. Improved data governance, quality audits, and technology integration are suggested to address these weaknesses.

1. Q#1 what concepts in this chapter are illustrated in this case?
The main goal of FBI‟s Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is to consolidate multiple databases
into a single unified one. The second major concept which is taken from this chapter is to
provide information which is needed to all the agencies by using data warehouses. Agencies can
receive a data Marta subset of data that pertains to its precise task. The State Department screens
applicants for visas to enter the residents applying for passports, while local law informant
agencies use the FBI system to help with arrests, detentions, and other illegal justice activities.
The third major concept is to manage data and resources effectively and efficiently. Rule for the
data sharing, standarrdizing and classification has not been established by the information policy.
Data administration seems to be poor for the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the
data seems to be missing. With government regulations it would help increase the privacy,
security, data quality, and compliance. To decrease the number of inconsistent record, records
duplication and records that had unclear sources, data quality audits and data purification are
greatly needed.
Q#2 why was the consolidated terror watch list created? What are the benefits of the list?
In 2003 Government announced the creation of a “Terrorist Screening Center” aimed at
providing centralized access to a single, unified database of anti-terrorist information. Currently,
a dozen so-called “terrorist watch lists” are maintained by nine federal agencies. To organize and
standardize information about suspected terrorists between multiple government agencies into a
single list, the FBI‟s Terrorist Screening Center, or TSC, was established. It is also established to
enhance communications between agencies. Multiple agencies were maintaining separate lists
and that these agencies lacked a consistent process to share relevant information about the
individuals on each agency‟s list. A database of suspected terrorists known as the terrorist watch
list was born from these efforts in 2003 in response to criticisms that multiple agencies .
Benefits of consolidated terror watch list:
1. Classifying and organizing information.
2. Provided record by NCTC and by FBI
3. Updating information with time.
4. Distributing information properly.

2. Q#3 Describe some of the weaknesses of the watch list. What management, organization,
and technology factors are responsible for these weaknesses?
Management: policies for choice and removal are not standardized between legislative
departments. The size of the list is out of control it has grown to over 750,000 records since its
creation and is continuing to grow at a rate of 200,000 records each year since 2004. However,
obvious non-terrorists are included on the list. There is no simple or quick rectify process for
removal from the list. The watch list has drawn criticism because of its potential to support racial
profiling and inequity.
Organization: Integrating 12 different databases into one is a difficult process. Corresponding the
knowledge of how someone is added to the list is difficult. On the other hand, for innocent
people who are unnecessarily inconvenienced, the incapacity to ascertain how they came to be
on the list is shocking. Criteria for addition on the list may be too minimum. The government
agencies not have standard individuals to the list, performing modifications to information, and
relaying those changes to other governmental offices.
Technology: The poor quality of the record leads to erroneous data. The TSA needs to perform
an intensive data quality checking and data cleansing to help match imperfect data in airline
reservation systems with defective data on the watch lists. There is still more work to be done to
integrate that list with those maintained by airlines, individual states, and other localities using
more information to distinguish individuals.
Q#4 if you were responsible for the management of the TSC watch list database, what steps
would you takes to correct some of these weaknesses?
To make the data reliable, correct and for security of the data the quality audit should be held on
yearly basis. To remove many of the imperfections of the data the data cleansing software should
be used. Standardize procedures for nomination and removal from the lists Information policies
and data governance policies need to be developed. There should not records duplications,
inconsistent data there should not leave necessary data fields and the sources of data should be

3. consistent. Such policies should use which match the watch lists of government and the
individuals both.
Q#5 Do you believe that the watch list represents a significant threat to individuals’ privacy
or Constitutional rights? Why or why not?
I do not believe that the watch list represents a significant threat to an individual‟s privacy or
constitutional rights. I believe everyone has right to his own privacy, what an individual does is
their choice. We give up a little of our privacy every day with the decisions that we make it is
our choice how much privacy we give up. As the list is concentrated on terrorist suspects if we
are „doing the right thing‟ we should have no need to worry if our privacy is being invaded.