Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jun 2001
Source: CNN (US Web)
Copyright: 2001 Cable News Network, Inc
Contact:  http://www.cnn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/65
Author: Jennifer Jones

HOUSE LEADER WANTS INVESTIGATION OF CARNIVORE

A powerful house lawmaker asked the FBI to re-examine the extent to which 
its e-mail sniffing tool, Carnivore, infringes on privacy.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey in a letter asked Attorney General John 
Ashcroft to take a look at Carnivore in light of a recent Supreme Court 
case involving privacy and police technology.

The nation's highest court on Monday ruled that thermal imaging devices 
"erode the privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment," according to the 
case "Kyllo v. United States."

"It is reasonable, then, to ask whether the Internet surveillance system 
formerly known as Carnivore similarly undermines the minimum expectation 
that individuals have that their personal electronic communications will 
not be examined by law enforcement devices unless specific court warrant 
has been issued," Armey wrote.

The FBI has sought to distance its e-mail sniffing capabilities from the 
term "Carnivore" and has informally changed the system's name to DCS 1000. 
The acronym "DCS" does not stand for anything, according to an FBI spokesman.

The FBI in congressional testimony last year stressed that it intercepts 
communications traveling over the Internet only when it has court orders 
permitting it to do so.

FBI representatives added that there are rare "emergency" cases where the 
system was used without such orders.

However, Armey's letter Thursday argues that there are now "serious 
constitutional questions" surrounding Carnivore.

The nation's founding fathers "quite clearly decided to sacrifice [some] 
efficiency for the sake of protecting citizens from overly intrusive 
government," Armey wrote.

Armey also indicated in his letter that he is unsatisfied with the review 
of Carnivore conducted by an Illinois university under the Clinton 
Administration.

Privacy groups also unhappy with the earlier review of Carnivore asked 
Ashcroft in early May to revisit privacy concerns surrounding the use of 
the system.

EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), the American Civil Liberties 
Union, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and others co-signed the 
May 2 letter.

EPIC and others advocate a scenario in which the FBI turns over its 
Carnivore sniffing capabilities to participating ISPs to conduct e-mail 
searches prescribed by court orders.

The FBI is currently awaiting a report due out of the Department of Justice 
on Carnivore, the spokesman said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth