This article in the latest National Law Journal references an ACLU lawsuit filed last week in Wayne County, Michigan, against the Michigan State Police. The complaint concerns the State Police's participation in a database called "Matrix," but the database is the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange. Hence the reason for this post - to distinguish the database at www.infoshop.org from another database that has been the subject of an ACLU lawsuit. The database that the State Police has participated in contains 20 billion records on "potential criminal suspects," and includes instant information on addresses, jobs, assets, voter registration, and associates." More information can be found at http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/8-3-2004/20040803133009_070.html">http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/8-3-2004/20040803133009_070.html

The company that owns the database, Seisint, was recently purchased by Reed Elsevier, which owns Lexis. Whether that development has larger implications for the development of Matrix remains to be seen.