have the data, it is another to understand its significance. when we data mine, we re teaching the computer how to go through large amounts of data. reporter: gary angel founded sip fon i can, one of the most experienced players in the data mining game, it was recently acquired by ernst and young. i am using a tool, this collects information on things like twitter. reporter: a big part of what angel does deals with scanning the web and analyzing data, not unlike what government agencies try to do. sift through the noise of all of the world s electronic communication, isolate fragments of troubling data, then connect those dots before a threat materializes. recent revelations show they re pushing to expand capacity to do it. what would surprise people most about data mining, what don t they know. how clumsy it is, how much work goes into getting simple conclusions from the data. there s a sense that computers
the focus tonight is on the man at the top of the intelligence ladder. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge begins the coverage. reporter: democratic senator ron wyden is calling out james clapper. we sent them the questions ahead of time. we indicated to them afterwards there would be an opportunity to amend it, and that s where i ll leave it. reporter: he wants public hearings on data collection of straight answers to direct questions in march. does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? no, sir. it does not? not wittingly. there are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect but not wittingly. reporter: over the weekend, clapper likened wyden s question to, quote, when are you going to stop beating your wife, adding in i responded in what i thought was the most truthful or at least most untruthful manner. are you willing to say whether you see snowden as a whistleblower? i am
can they? claudia cowan reports. when we data mine, we re teaching the computer how to go through large amounts of data and look at large patterns and understand what they mean. gary angel is head of a company he founded over 15 years ago. that makes, he says, one of the most experienced players in the data mining game. i m using a tool here called a listening tool. this tool collects information on things like twitter. a big part of what the folks here do is scan the web and analyze data. it s not unlike what the nsa will try to do at the utah data center. sift through the noise of all the world s electronic communications, isolate the fragments of troubling data, then connect those dots before a threat materializes. what do you think would surprise people most about data mining? what don t they know?
can they? claudia would ycowen reports. we are teach ago computer to go through large enough data and look at patterns and understand what they mean. gary angel is head of simphonics. that makes it one of the most experienced players in the data gathering game. a big part of what the folks do is scan the web and analyze data. it s not unlike what the nsa will try to do at the utah data center. sift through the noise and all of the world s electronic communications, isolate the fragments of troubling data then connect the dots before a threat materializes. what do you think would surprise people most about data mining? what do they know?
0 yourself as you have about a lot of people out there? yes, absolutely. no qualms. no qualms because kennedy says that peak into your private world would make your life into a consumer much more satisfying. which brings me to my next stop with frank ahern, the pharmacy. this is pretty innocuous. what little piece of information has been added to my digital profile? the credit card company knows you have a child and the pharmacy as well has a record of you having a child. if i sent an e-mail if i get gas, if i go to the pharmacy and pick something up what can you learn about a person? you can learn a lot. you can trace and track all along. consolidating it is a big problem the scary part. a quick stop by the atm where my picture is taken and my bank records the transaction. as i take off down the road any number of traffic cameras record my route. frank, coming up to the tollbooth here. what are we watching for? cameras, number one, and taking pictures of your license