The FBI is readying an integrated database of intercepted electronic messages collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and electronic data obtained from seized or captured digital media, according to an August Federal Register notice.

The new integrated database, the Data Integration and Visualization System, will mirror some existing databases and allow agents federated access to others, the notice states. DIVS is necessary because while all the data accessible through it has been available before, it's required individual searches to extract.

"This was a time-consuming process and led to possible gaps in the collated information," the notice states.

According to the fiscal 2011 DIVS Exhibit 300 (the annual business case agencies submit to the Office of Management and Budget for major information technology systems), DIVS will also provide analytical software that will enable users to "view, search and establish relationships among stored entities."

The FBI has initiated contracts worth at least $95.2 million since 2008 on the system, also according to the Exhibit 300.

For more:
- read the Federal Register notice
- download the fiscal 2011 DIVS Exhibit 300 (.pdf)

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