cannabisnews.com: FBI's Controversial Carnivore Surveillance Program










  FBI's Controversial Carnivore Surveillance Program

Posted by CN Staff on May 31, 2002 at 11:09:40 PT
By David McGuire, Washington Post.com Staff Writer 
Source: Washington Post 

The FBI's state-of-the-art e-mail surveillance device has fueled fierce debate since the first press reports about it in 2000. Law enforcers say the tool, originally named 'Carnivore,' is essential for 21st century crime-fighting, while privacy advocates say the device casts too wide a net in its search for incriminating e-mail.Developed by the FBI to supplement traditional telephone wiretapping technology, Carnivore - now called DCS1000 - can sift through hundreds of thousands of e-mail messages to find mail containing specific addresses, Internet protocol (IP) numbers and text strings.
The FBI installs Carnivore software on computers that can be plugged directly into an Internet service provider's networks. When the device is installed, it is enclosed in a locked cage that prevents tampering by ISP employees, according to the FBI.The FBI must first obtain a court order before it can install the Carnivore device at an ISP. Once installed, the device scans messages on the network, searching for identifiers approved by a judge's order. The FBI maintains that "human eyes" never see the innocent messages that Carnivore parses in its search for evidence.When descriptions of Carnivore were first reported by the news media in 2000, a diverse array of political leaders and public interest groups weighed in with concerns about the FBI's use of the device. Over the course of one week in July 2000, Carnivore managed to draw criticism from both the American Civil Liberties Union and House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas).Responding to the criticism, then-Attorney General Janet Reno commissioned a semi-independent study of Carnivore, the favorable results of which did little to quell the debate.In July 2000 testimony to Congress, the FBI presented Carnivore as a necessary tool for policing the Internet. FBI Assistant Director Donald M. Kerr told the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution that online suveillance technologies can be used to track the activities of child pornographers, identity thieves and other cybercriminals.But despite several congressional hearings and a failed legislative attempt to restrict the use of Carnivore, little about how the device is used has changed since 2000, said Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Associate Director Jim Dempsey."The only thing we know for certain is that it was renamed," Dempsey said. "We're still where we were in 2000."Dempsey says the biggest knock on Carnivore is that, in any given investigation, nobody outside the FBI knows what Carnivore does and does not collect."The government attaches it to the ISP's network and says 'don't touch it. We'll come back and get it when we're done,'" Dempsey said.Some privacy advocates have proposed that, if Carnivore is to be used, it should be ISP technicians and not FBI agents controlling the device. If the FBI were to provide an ISP with a court order and a Carnivore device, it would add a layer of accountability and protection to the process, puting in place a process similar to how other personal information is obtained under court order, Dempsey said."Having the ISP in the middle adds that buffer," Dempsey said.In 2001, Congress passed legislation requiring the Justice Department to make an annual report about when, how, and how often Carnivore is used in criminal investigations.Justice Department and FBI officials were not immediately available for comment on this story. Resources on the Web:  FBI.gov: Carnivore Diagnostic Tool FAQhttp://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/carnivore/carnivore.htmElectronic Privacy Information Center: Carnivore FOIA Litigationhttp://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/Justice Department: Congressional Testimony on Carnivore -- July 24, 2002 and Sept. 6, 2000.http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/carnivore.htmhttp://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/kvd_0906b.htmAmerican Civil Liberties Union: Congressional Testimony on Carnivore --July 24, 2000http://www.aclu.org/congress/l072400a.htmlElectronic Frontier Foundation: Congressional Testimony on Carnivore -- July 28, 2000http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Carnivore/20000728_eff_house_carnivore.htmlComplete Title: Primer: The FBI's Controversial Carnivore Surveillance Program Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: David McGuire, Washington Post.com Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, May 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com Related Articles & Web Site:ACLU http://www.aclu.org/Why Should We Care? It's Only the Constitution http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11532.shtmlFBI Seeking To Wiretap Internethttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11206.shtmlAnti-Terror Bill Has E-Mail Clause http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11180.shtml

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help





Comment #4 posted by dddd on May 31, 2002 at 19:33:52 PT
....It's Too Late....
.......Think about it.......This is the fbi..The public is not allowed to know what they are up to,,...Congress is not even able to get credible information about exactly what is going on,,they just believe what they are told...
""The only thing we know for certain is that it was renamed," Dempsey said. "We're still where we were in 2000."
  Dempsey says the biggest knock on Carnivore is that, in any given investigation, nobody outside the FBI knows what Carnivore does and does not collect. "The government attaches it to the ISP's network and says 'don't touch it. We'll come back and get it when we're done,'" Dempsey said.""
...Most people probably think that Carnivore is only installed on a few ISPs,,,,I have no way of knowing for sure,,,but I bet that Carivore is installed on EVERY ISP in the US...Why not?,,after all,cyber monitoring,and snooping methods are mostly undectable and invisible,..A few hi-tech hacker pros can probably tell,but for 99.9% of computer users,they have no way of knowing,,and not even the ISP knows !!!...
..OK,,now think of this;;even high school hackers have been able to create viruses and worms that are sneaked into computers,,and hackers can find their way into most websites.When the fbi busts these hackers,they get to see how the hacks did it...Theoreticly,a snooping virus could be sent to every email address,and no one could tell,,or such things could be easily accomplished by encoding certain "back doors" in browsers like Internet Explorer,or Netscape Navigator......
...If anyone doubts the exsistance of big-time cyber snooping,then just look at the federal budget from last year,and you will be awestruck to see the vast amounts of money spent on cyber snooping,and the huge contracts that are awarded to software companies.
...It's too late to start asking questions about Carnivore,or cyber privacy..It has already happened,,and it will never 'un-happen'....because,,,even if the government somehow ordered the fbi to stop snooping around,,the fbi would say,,"OK,,we stopped."...........dddd  
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by p4me on May 31, 2002 at 12:15:06 PT
Is there a seed shortage?
I was looking at a seed seller in Canada called Heaven's Stairway that everyone seems to recommend. Now if you go there they will have a list of a dozen companies they represent. I went through about half of the companies and almost all of the seeds are sold out. Oh my! What will the DEAth do about all those plants spreading genetics across the country. It is almost as if people do not agree with the government.See for yourself:http://www.cannabisseeds.org/enter.htmlSpread the seeds. It is a Patriotic Act to grow marijuana. That belief is what makes me the Extremist I am today. Piss on Washington.VAAI
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by p4me on May 31, 2002 at 11:47:34 PT
Day 36 for Robin Prosser
Here is the latest on Robin's situation: http://www.missoulanews.com/News/News.asp?no=2476
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 31, 2002 at 11:45:18 PT
Everyone always wants to confess
 The FBI maintains that "human eyes" never see the innocent messages that Carnivore parses in its search for evidence.
This could be a confession that nothing they see is seen through human eyes.They didn't see Wen Ho Lee with human eyes, that's for sure.
[ Post Comment ]




  Post Comment