|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As many of you know, "Carnivore," the unfortunately-codenamed FBI software that allows law enforcement agencies to scan email for addresses under investigation, has been criticized by privacy advocates for being too easy to abuse. A study commissioned by the Justice Department says this isn't so, and the FBI is reportedly "pleased." Several modifications to the system were suggested by the Illinois Institute of Technology Research review commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, but Carnivore's critics are not reassured. David Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said, "The problem with Carnivore is that it gives the FBI access to the communications of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Internet users." [In cynical fairness, we should note that there are those who contend that the National Security Agency and others already monitor the communication of virtually everyone in the entire world. But Carnivore is installed at the ISP level and is much more susceptible to intervention and misuse by regional agents and local law enforcement agencies. As always, then, the caution is: don't say anything in your email that you wouldn't post on your own front door. -- JHF]
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
