The city of Austin in Texas is now paying a low flat fee per month to occupy a building right near the local police department. This building is to be used as a “fusion center.” While this has an epic ring to it, it actually has nothing to do with nuclear power; it is a center where state, federal, and local police departments can come together and share information about criminals in hopes of catching them more quickly.

Privacy advocates are not so sure about this new edifice and what privacy issues it could present. They think that maybe it could accidentally leak this data to the public, and that any information on anybody would be fair game. Remember, they don’t just keep information on criminals in this data base. What if this data base were to be hacked and the information let out to the public; addresses, case studies, etc.? Who says it would even be secured properly? They mainly just don’t like the idea of three above the law organizations getting together and having complete information available on pretty much every person ever.

The police see it differently. They assert that the project is simply going to help coordinate efforts between police organizations and will give them more data to track and track criminals; and most importantly keep the public more safe than ever. They also say that the data base will be highly secured on every front and that it will only include data pertinent to an investigation they are doing.

The audacious project is slated to be funded by city tax dollars, and some residents are a bit put off by this. It’s not like they asked for more protection on the streets, and although it is welcome, they don’t want to pay more taxes in their already cash strapped city. The public is also angry they had no say in the matter, and weren’t even alerted on the plans to pursue this goal until everything was almost already laid out.

City council is put in a tough position. They understand the risks the comprehensive data base presents to its citizen’s privacy and other civil rights. They also understand that the citizens will have to pay for the organization to function through their hard earned tax dollars. On the other hand though, bolstering security is never a problem, and hopefully this collaborative effort between government and local police departments will stop all of the government secrecy in their investigations, and they will include the local police.

Since this plan is already pretty much started, now is the time to protect one self. Using an IP changer will help minimize the risk if the data base was somehow compromised, and some information was leaked. The change IP proxy will completely change your IP and hide it, and anyone who got some of your information through such a leak couldn’t track you online.

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