Highlights of GAO-05-866, a report to the Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate The federal governmentâ€™s increased use of data mining since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has raised public and congressional concerns. As a result, GAO was asked to describe the characteristics of five federal data mining efforts and to determine whether agencies are providing adequate privacy and security protection for the information systems used in the efforts and for individuals potentially affected by these data mining efforts.