Yesterday Senator Feingold introduced S.236, "a bill to require reports to Congress on Federal agency use of data mining." Senators Akaka, Leahy and Sununu co-sponsored the bill. Feingold's press release explains; "The legislation requires all federal agencies to report to Congress, in classified form if need be, within 180 days and every year thereafter on certain data mining programs and how these programs impact the civil liberties and privacy of Americans." These Senators are concerned about the widespread collection of information from public and private sector databases for evidence of terrorism, yet there isn't a clear understanding of its effectiveness to prevent terrorism.