Jane Black at Businessweek Online reports that more than half of the states that signed up for the MATRIX law-enforcement database have quit it. The Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange lets the police draw on multiple databases to create instant dossiers on, well, anyone they want. Here are Jane’s conclusions:

There’s no doubt that MATRIX raises privacy red flags, though after an extensive briefing by the Florida Law Enforcement Dept., which is spearheading the project, I believe that it’s little more than an efficient way to query multiple databases.

The real furor over MATRIX demonstrates something much more important — and surprising: Privacy advocates have gained a lot of ground in the two years since September 11. And the pendulum is swinging back in their favor.

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