On Friday, Utah Gov. Olene Walker announced that Utah will withdraw from its participation in the
Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX), a federal program designed to share certain types of data for criminal investigation purposes.
Walker's announcement follows her Jan. 29 decision to postpone Utah's involvement in MATRIX until a review committee further explored the program.
Completing its work, the committee concluded to halt Utah's participation in MATRIX until adequate oversight could be established. The committee decided the Legislature should determine what that adequate oversight should be.
"Based on the recommendation made by the review committee, and also upon the information I have received," said Walker, "I have informed state agencies we will not reinstate our participation in MATRIX. I understand law enforcement officials need to share information regarding criminal activity, but there are privacy and funding concerns I had to consider."
