Electronic Surveillance: The FBI Carnivore Program

660 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Need for internet censorship

Electronic Surveillance: The FBI Carnivore Program

Is Big Brother watching our every computer move? Is the government (FBI, specifically) reading and filtering our email and where we go on the web? According to the critics of the FBI’s new CARNIVORE program, the answer is a resounding “yes”. However, according to FBI spokesperson John Collingwood (in a letter to the LA Times on August 7, 2000), CARNIVORE is not a government-backed spy program to invade the privacy of US citizens--it is an effective weapon (similar to phone taps) in the war against crime.

What is CARNIVORE? According to the FBI, CARNIVORE is a program used in conjunction with a suspect’s ISP (and ordered by the court) to collect internet and email information on specific suspects in active crime investigations. It is a filtering tool to collect information to be used in the conviction of criminals. The FBI reports that the program is not used to randomly spy on individuals, nor does it record all of the traffic from an ISP. Similar to how a wiretap records phone calls, CARNIVORE captures email messages and all network traffic from an individual’s IP address by filtering all of the data at an ISP.

The ACLU argues that CARNIVORE “breaches the ISP’s rights and rights of its customers by reading both sender and recipient addresses, as well as subject lines of emails to decide whether to make a copy of the entire message” (CNN.com, 7/12/00). Their other concern is that CARNIVORE is completed controlled by the law enforcement officials, unlike a wiretap that is maintained by the local phone company. The ACLU compares CARNIVORE to a wiretap that can monitor all of t...

... middle of paper ...

...y law enforcement officials would be lessened. Although CARNIVORE is probably not capable of widespread monitoring of all internet activities, it has the potential for abuse. We (the public) should strive to keep it that way so our surfing is kept private. Who knows what our congressman, CEO, or schoolteacher is viewing on the internet. And frankly, who cares. That information should remain private.

Bibliography:

1. “Critics attack FBI email snooping device” at CNN.com (7/12/00); 2. “Email snoop “CARNIVORE” to get review” at channelcincinnati.com (7/25/00); 3. “Newly released FBI documents show CARNIVORE can swallow more information than bureau claims” at epi.org (11/16/00).

Show More
Related

  • Oklahoma City Bombing: Timothy McVeigh

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    FBI. The FBI. The FBI. FBI, 21 May 2010. Web.

    Read More

  • Government Surveillance vs Privacy

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    Is the American government trustworthy? Edward Joseph Snowden (2013) released to the United States press* selected information about the surveillance of ordinary citizens by the U.S.A.’s National Security Agency (N.S.A.), and its interconnection to phone and social media companies. The motion picture Citizenfour (2014), shows the original taping of those revelations. Snowden said that some people do nothing about this tracking because they have nothing to hide. He claims that this inverts the model of responsibility. He believes that everyone should encrypt Internet messages and abandon electronic media companies that track personal information and Internet behavior (op.cit, 2014). Snowden also stressed to Lawrence Lessig (2014) the importance of the press and the first amendment (Lessig – Snowden Interview Transcript, [16:28]). These dynamics illustrate Lessig’s (2006) constrain-enable pattern of powers that keep society in check (2006, Code: Version 2.0, p. 122). Consider Lessig’s (2006) question what is “the threat to liberty?” (2006, p. 120). Terrorism is a real threat (Weber, 2013). Surveillance by social media and websites, rather than the government, has the greater negative impact on its users.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Wiretaps

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    “There are about 3 billion phone calls made within the USA every day” (Romano). Now picture you’re calling your friend on the phone. Sometimes we can take small privilege like this for granted. Now imagine that the government is listening to every single phone conversation that we make. Why wouldn’t this scare you? I know it terrifies me. Wiretaps are a problem that concerns every single person in the country. But it isn’t just wiretaps; with a program called Prism the NSA has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple, and other US internet giants (Glenn). Everything we search for on Google, every message sent or received on Facebook, every item purchased on Apple is all seen by the NSA. The government is overusing their power to spy on its citizens and it needs to stop.

    Read More

  • In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    Taylor, James Stacey. "In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance." Public Affairs Quarterly July 2005: 227-246.

    Read More

  • The NSA, Privacy and the War or Terrorism

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.

    Read More

  • Privacy Is Not Privlege

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the introduction of the internet being a relatively new phenomenon, the act of cyber espionage is not something that has been properly acknowledged by society. The American Government has done a stand up job of keeping its methods in the shadows and away from the eyes of its people since its documented domestic surveillance began on October 4th, 2001; Twenty three days after the Twin Towers fell President George Bush signed an order to begin a secret domestic eavesdropping operation, an operation which was so sensitive that even many of the country's senior national security officials with the...

    Read More

  • US Government Monitoring Its Citizens

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    "NSA Surveillance Programs." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • The History of the FBI

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    The FBI is an organization that takes pride in how they conduct their mission. John E. Ott, editor for the FBI says, “Our goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the threats and pe...

    Read More

  • Online Data Tracking: An Invasion of Privacy?

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ompanies’ databases without our awareness—much less our approval—the more deeply the Net is woven into our lives the more exposed we become. In order to stop online tracking, we have to take personal responsibility for the information we share and modify our privacy settings. We have to get bills and regulations passed by congress so laws can be made to limit corporations from tracking and sharing our personal formation and discipline and take action upon any corporation that does not abide by the rules.

    Read More

  • The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

    2043 Words  | 5 Pages

    Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/politics/23cnd-wiretap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 STEPHEN BRAUN, A. F. (2014, May 9). Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure. The big story, p. 1. Wu, E. Y. (2014, April 28). 3 DOMESTIC SPYING AND WHY AMERICA SHOULD AVOID THE SLIPPERY SLOPE.

    Read More

  • Privacy vs. Security

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ever since day one, people have been developing and creating all sorts of new methods and machines to help better everyday life in one way or another. Who can forget the invention of the ever-wondrous telephone? And we can’t forget how innovative and life-changing computers have been. However, while all machines have their positive uses, there can also be many negatives depending on how one uses said machines, wiretapping in on phone conversations, using spyware to quietly survey every keystroke and click one makes, and many other methods of unwanted snooping have arisen. As a result, laws have been made to make sure these negative uses are not taken advantage of by anyone. But because of how often technology changes, how can it be known that the laws made so long ago can still uphold proper justice? With the laws that are in place now, it’s a constant struggle to balance security with privacy. Privacy laws should be revised completely in order to create a better happy medium between security and privacy. A common misconception of most is that a happy medium of privacy and security is impossible to achieve. However, as well-said by Daniel Solove, “Protecting privacy doesn’t need to mean scuttling a security measure. Most people concerned about the privacy implications of government surveillance aren’t arguing for no[sic] surveillance and absolute privacy. They’d be fine giving up some privacy as long as appropriate controls, limitations, oversight and accountability mechanisms were in place.”(“5 Myths about Privacy”)

    Read More

  • The Issues With Public Surveillance

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    Video cameras are being deployed around the nation to help with crime solving, but some people are concerned about their privacy. Having cameras to monitor public areas have shown to be useful in situations such as identifying the bombers of the Boston marathon in early 2013. There have also been issues with these cameras however, as people are concerned they are too invasive of their privacy and have been misused by police officers in the past. Some people want to find a balance in using cameras in public so that they can continue to help with crime solving while making sure they are not too invasive and are properly used.

    Read More

  • Government Surveillance Pros And Cons

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    There has always been surveillance of the general public conducted by the United States government, the usual justifications being upholding the security of the nation , weeding out those who intend to bring harm to the nation, and more. But the methods for acquiring such information on citizens of the united states were not very sophisticated many years ago so the impact of government surveillance was not as great. As a result of many technological advancements today the methods for acquiring personal information - phone metadata, internet history and more - have become much simpler and sophisticated. Many times, the information acquired from different individuals is done so without their consent or knowledge. The current surveillance of people

    Read More

  • Surveillance and Privacy Issues

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, government agencies, especially in America, continue to lobby for increased surveillance capabilities, particularly as technologies change and move in the direction of social media. Communications surveillance has extended to Internet and digital communications. law enforcement agencies, like the NSA, have required internet providers and telecommunications companies to monitor users’ traffic. Many of these activities are performed under ambiguous legal basis and remain unknown to the general public, although the media’s recent preoccupation with these surveillance and privacy issues is a setting a trending agenda.

    Read More

  • Lack of Internet Security and Privacy

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Internet privacy and security has become the concern of many individuals throughout recent years. There are a very limited amount of laws that have been enacted to combat computer or cyber related crimes. This has become an issue because as the internet grows increasingly popular so does the criminal and immoral behavior that abounds on it. With these crimes gaining in impact, effectiveness, and frequency, there needs to be more repercussions for these crimes. The United States government needs to increase restrictions on the amount and type of data on individuals from the internet, to prevent the government from invading privacy of citizens and to prevent companies from storing browser histories of individuals, to then sell that information to ad agencies and other companies.

    Read More

More about Electronic Surveillance: The FBI Carnivore Program

Open Document