Judge: FBI must cough up Carnivore info

NEWS

Privacy advocates have won another round in their fight to gain access to more information about the FBI's Carnivore email surveillance system. A federal judge this week ordered the FBI to expand its search for records about Carnivore, also known as DCS1000, technology that is installed at Internet service providers to monitor email from criminal suspects. The court denied a motion for summary judgment and ordered the FBI to produce within 60 days "a further search" of its records pertaining to Carnivore as well as a device called EtherPeek, which manages network traffic. The FBI has defended Carnivore by assuring the public that it only captures email and other online information authorised for seizure in a court order, but the Electronic Privacy Information Center ( EPIC) has voiced concerns over potential abuse. EPIC sued the FBI, the investigative arm of the Justice Department, in July 2000 under the Freedom of Information Act so it could examine Carnivore-related documents. EPIC "has raised a 'positive indication' that the FBI may have overlooked documents in other FBI divisions, most notably the offices of the General Counsel and Congressional and Public Affairs", US District Judge James Robertson wrote in his order. The court order marks the latest chapter in EPIC's ongoing legal battle with the Justice Department. The lawsuit could have significant implications for the government's tactics of monitoring Internet use in federal investigations. According to the order, the FBI had completed its processing of EPIC's FOIA request, producing a search of 1,957 pages of material but releasing only 1,665 pages to EPIC. The privacy group claimed those records were inadequate, saying they only addressed technical aspects of Carnivore, not legal and policy implications. EPIC general counsel David Sobel said the FBI and Justice Department have been "very grudging" about the Carnivore information they are willing to release. "A new court-supervised search is likely to result in the release of a lot of significant new information, particularly because the information that we're likely to get now is material dealing with the Justice Department and the FBI's assessment of the legal issues raised by the use of Carnivore," Sobel said. "I think now -- especially after 11 September when these kinds of techniques are likely to increase in use -- it's even more important that information be made public and how the techniques are being used and how the Justice Department sees the legal issues." In September 2000, the Justice Department commissioned IIT Research Institute, an arm of the Illinois Institute of Technology, to undergo a review of Carnivore. Two months later, the institute released its findings, saying the technology "protects privacy and enables lawful surveillance better than alternatives". The report said Carnivore provides investigators with no more information than is permitted by a given court order and that it poses no risk to Internet service providers. The Justice Department and FBI could not be immediately reached for comment.

Who's watching you? Get the latest on spy networks such as Echelon and Carnivore, as well as privacy issues for companies and individuals alike, at ZDNet UK's Privacy News Section. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

2. Bad idea. Making up patch cables loses you your commission from the cable supplier. 3. If you tidy up, other people can understand where the...

3 hours ago by itsajob on Ten IT jobs to save up for those rare lulls

Now On Sale, Unlocked iPhone 4S / Galaxy Note In Factory Box. Roberto-Techie(UK) ”Now on Sales” Smartphone, Android,Tablets,Gadget &...

7 hours ago by Roberto_Store on Samsung Galaxy S III lined up for sale

Is this classic FUD? One thing I would definitely have notice is a Mozilla threat to stop supporting GNU/Linux.

9 hours ago by Paul Smyth via Facebook on Firefox rapid release improves Fedora Linux

I agree with the previous commenter wholeheartedly. I couldn't say it better myself. This is very 'Big Brother'. And while I agree with protecting...

13 hours ago by UnderINK on European e-identity plan to be unveiled this month

Nice to see that Turing's idea of a general purpose computer doing once-hardware-powered tasks in software is now universal ;-) Mary

19 hours ago by Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe on Software with everything

seriously now. I've only bothered to read a small bit of the comments. do me and the rest of the world a favour. stop saying it does not work or...

22 hours ago by Jason Burchell via Facebook on Music industry negotiating over 24-bit downloads

Read about it and weep, John Donahoe ... In addition to Visa’s V.me, there is now MasterCard’s PayPass digital wallet soon to arrive; another...

1 day ago by Philip Charles Cohen via Facebook on PayPal takes phone-based payments to the high street

Leslie Satenstein : Where have you ever seen Mozilla even mention this? Firefox is the most popular browser in the GNU/Linux OS, so I don't see...

1 day ago by apexwm on Firefox rapid release improves Fedora Linux

SHleG: Do you remember building a clockwork scorpion kit (I'm pretty sure I have a photo of it somewhere) — I think it was called something like...

1 day ago by songmaster on Software with everything

Good I love Yahoo! Their search engine is getting better than Google as of late. I find more of what I want on the first page, and usually within...

1 day ago by Chris Wortman via Facebook on Linux Mint 13 ramps up for KDE release

openhgs has made the point for Windows 8 multiple monitors without realising it! With Windows 7 you have to switch the mouse and so your focus...

1 day ago by PatrickG on Windows 8 could speed multi-monitor uptake

Mozilla has threatened to stop supporting Linux. I guess that UBUNTU is going with another browser. I indicated that if Mozilla stops supporting...

1 day ago by Leslie Satenstein via Facebook on Firefox rapid release improves Fedora Linux

Much as I abhor Microsoft's licensing practices, this is almost certainly down to purchasing IT equipment via 3rd party consultants - you get the...

1 day ago by Andy Bolstridge via Facebook on 6 million wasted licences and £1,200 PCs: welcome to government IT

@openhgs Windows users have had multiple desktops since Linus started writing Linux. They just haven't shipped as standard because not enough...

2 days ago by Jack Schofield on Windows 8 could speed multi-monitor uptake

@Phil at Cloud4 What, Microsoft gets £1,200 per PC and £1,622 per server? Gosh, I'm amazed....

2 days ago by Jack Schofield on 6 million wasted licences and £1,200 PCs: welcome to government IT

You guys have no idea what is going on at Autonomy. Autonomy could have been a much more profitable organization. The sales operations at Autonomy...

2 days ago by craigsc on HP cuts 27,000 staff as Autonomy chief Lynch leaves

How does this impact on dual or multi booting? Seems to me to more or less prohibit this, from Windows 8 anyway. Will Grub 2 recognise Windows 8,...

2 days ago by Moley on Windows 8 start-up speed forces USB boot workaround

I don't understand why there cannot be a slight pause during the boot process so the user can press a key. Many operating systems do this, even if...

2 days ago by apexwm on Windows 8 start-up speed forces USB boot workaround

You can now buy the Xi3 modular computer in the UK at http://www.ocdistribution.com . This can be bought with the Tand3m software, pricing and...

2 days ago by Gavin Goodman on CES 2012: Xi3 microSERV3R

I agree: Mike Lynch can clearly build a business and manage strategy. I suspect the exit of Mike is more likely the end of a planned handover...

2 days ago by Phil at Cloud4 on HP cuts 27,000 staff as Autonomy chief Lynch leaves

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Judge: FBI must cough up Carnivore info

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Politician issues Carnivore warning

Privacy activists blast Echelon

Rivals asleep at the 4G wheel, says Everything Everywhere

Open Data Institute will act as biz incubator

Salesforce pushes collaboration with Chatter update

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Networking

Rivals asleep at the 4G wheel, says Everything Everywhere

Open Data Institute will act as biz incubator

Salesforce pushes collaboration with Chatter update

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Senior Business Analyst

Technical Project Manager

Software Support Engineer

Inside ZDNet UK

Indoor navigation coming to a mobile near you soon

Software with everything

Asus Transformer Pad TF300T

How IT is ganging up on organised cybercrime

HTC One V: First take

SharePoint deployment: The final chapter

Ten IT jobs to save up for those rare lulls

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Infrastructure / Networking

Judge: FBI must cough up Carnivore info

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Networking

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features