A source who wishes to remain anoynymous sent us this link to a story on Wired.com about the state of the US Government’s Terrorist watch list.

The many and varied problems with the watch list have been covered on this blog before.

However, the reason that this most recent story constitutes an IQTrainwreck is that it seems that, despite undertakings to improve quality, the exact opposite has actually happened given:

• The growth in the number of entries on the list
• The failures on the part of the FBI to properly maintain and update information in a timely manner.

According to the report 15% of active terrorism suspects under investigation were not added to the Watch list. 72% of people cleared in closed investigations were not removed.

The report from the US Inspector General said that they “believe that the FBI’s failure to consistently nominate subjects of international and domestic terrorism investigations to the terrorist watchlist could pose a risk to national security.”

That quote sums up why this is an IQTrainwreck.

This issue highlights the value of information as a strategic asset. But for that asset to be valuable, proper attention must be paid to the quality of the information (timeliness, accuracy, completeness, consistency). Perhaps the FBI needs a briefing on the POSMAD model for Information Life cycles that Danette McGilvray teaches.