Sensitive data plucked off Web

By Anick Jesdanun

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Before Sept. 11, you could have visited the Federation of American Scientists’ Web site for diagrams and photos of U.S. intelligence facilities. You could have gone to another Web site and learned of gatherings at North Dakota’s Minot Air Force Base. And you could have gone online and ordered maps of military installations.

No longer.

Concerned they could be aiding terrorists, some government and private Web sites have decided to stop sharing so much potentially sensitive data.

Such measures would not prevent terrorists from turning to libraries or other Web sites for information that could be useful in attacks.

"But that is not a justification for publishing it in easily accessible ways. Let them work for it," said Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst at the scientists’ group.

The private organization removed from the Web its research containing locations, building layouts and aerial images of intelligence offices, some unacknowledged by the U.S. government. Also removed were details on nuclear sites abroad.

Minot Air Force Base removed clues about where personnel may be gathering, along with schedules of activities and locations of military housing units.

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency suspended online and offline sales of maps of military installations, as well as its highest-resolution maps of other U.S. locations.

The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety now restricts its mapping software and pipeline data to industry and government officials, while the Environmental Protection Agency removed information on chemical plants and their emergency response plans.

"People have a right to know what kinds of risks there are, but unfortunately terrorists are people, too," said Jim Makris, the EPA’s emergency coordinator.

Removing material from the Internet is also occurring for nonsecurity reasons.

Some online forums have deleted hate messages attacking Muslims. A news site, Irish Republican Activist Radio, suspended operations out of fear it may be accused of supporting terrorism and see it assets seized.

The removed or restricted materials represent only a tiny piece of what is available on the Internet, but First Amendment advocates are worried this is only the beginning.

"It’s a fine balance that must be struck here, but in wartime the temptation is always to greater censorship rather than less," said Adam Powell, vice president for technology and programs at the Freedom Forum.

The full extent to which terrorists used the Internet to plot the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks is unclear. But one hijacker who listed a flight school as his address on a pilot’s license may have gotten it from printed brochures or the Internet, while some of the hijackers used online travel sites such as Travelocity to buy their airline tickets.

Attorney General John Ashcroft told Congress that one person in federal custody had downloaded information about crop-dusting planes, which could be used for biological or chemical attacks.

Saying the benefits outweigh the potential for misuse, Trip.com has continued to operate its FlightTracker service, which gives real-time information on the speed, altitude and location of flights in the air.