Obama Admin Wants to Allow Web Wiretapping
The Obama administration is preparing to submit a bill to lawmakers that would make it possible for law enforcement officials to 'wiretap the internet' if they need to.
The New York Times reports that Federal law enforcement and national security officials are complaining that wiretapping is no longer as useful as it once was because use of the internet as a platform for communication among terrorists and criminals is becoming more prevalent.
In an attempt to preserve wiretapping as a viable method of monitoring the movements of criminals, the Obama administration is preparing to submit to congress a bill that would enable law enforcement to 'tap' communication services like Facebook and Skype and encrypted services like BlackBerry Messenger. If passed, regulation would require internet companies to comply by maintaining a system for monitoring encrypted emails and messages. If served with a legal wiretapping order, companies like Facebook, Skype and RIM would have to allow law enforcement officials intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation commented on the proposal in a blog post on its website and said that if passed, the law would undermine a decade of work done by the EFF.
the EFF's Seth Schoen writes:
"Throughout the 1990s, EFF and others fought the "crypto wars" to ensure that the public would have the right to strong encryption tools that protect our privacy and security — with no back doors and no intentional weaknesses. We fought in court and in Congress to protect privacy rights and challenge restrictions on encryption, and to make sure the public could use encryption to protect itself."
Schoen goes on to cite a 1999 observation by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that stated the availability and use of secure encryption "may offer an opportunity to reclaim some portion of the privacy we have lost."
The EFF claims that, in the last ten years, despite the growth in U.S. government surveillance, the development and use of secure encryption was never in doubt. However, this proposed bill throws what used to be referred to as a victory for the EFF into uncertain light.
"As the Internet security community explained years ago, intentionally weakening security and including back doors is a recipe for disaster. "Lawful intercept" systems built under current laws have already been abused for unlawful spying by governments and criminals," writes Mr. Schoen. "Trying to force technology developers to include back doors is a recipe for disaster for our already-fragile on-line security and privacy."
Interestingly, a more recent article by the NYT highlights how technology companies have yet to comment on the proposal. Google, RIM, Microsoft and Yahoo! all remained tight-lipped on the issue, refusing to give a comment to the Times. Though Facebook did provide comment, the wait-and-see statement does little other than express an obligation to comply with a legal request for data.
"We will examine any proposal when and if it materializes but we can’t comment on something we haven’t seen. Generally, it’s our policy to only comply with valid, legal requests for data."
Further Reading
- New York Times: U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet
- Electronic Frontier Foundation: Government Seeks Backdoor into All Our Communications
- New York Times: Internet Wiretapping Proposal Met with Silence
*Thanks to thejerk for the tip.
- iPad 3G Tether Support Seen in iOS 4.2 Beta
- Samsung Confirms Several WP7 Devices for 2010
- RIAA Continues to Be Attacked from DDoS Flood
- GameCrush Now Open For Pay to Play With Girls
- Star Wars Getting 3D Re-release Starting 2012
- RIM: We're Replacing Our OS with One from QNX
- Samsung Sends SD Card Through Death Machine
- Dell 7-Inch Android Tablet Soon, 10-Inch Later
- GPU-Assisted Malware Can Be Difficult to Detect
- City Suffers After It Vanishes From Google Maps
- How to Decide Which Android Smartphone to Buy
- Gold-dispensing ATMs Coming to U.S. this Year
- Russians Plan Space Hotels for Tourists
- Concept Player Sticks on Window, Solar Powered
- Microsoft Suing Motorola Over Android Features
- Nintendo Discusses Actual 3DS Hardware Specs
- Movie Based on Myst Still in the Works
- Nintendogs Blamed in Attack on Girl by Real Dog
- 2/3 of Android Apps Use Private Data Suspiciously
If thats the case, I want Obama to go to hell. I know they want to catch the bad guys before they do something bad, but ever since 9/11 we keep losing more and more privacy in the name of national security...
It's not limited to one party. It's not based on skin color. It's just plain madness. When will government start representing us and stop trying to force us to represent them?
This would just give them permission to do what they have already been doing since the patriot act started "protecting" us
Technically we are all being traced even now on the web. Each website can know your IP, and the moderators know what you are browsing. Nothing special here, just would weed out some of the baddies better.
Typical governement stupidity.
Those with something to hide will simply encrypt their emails with inhouse encryptions, which I'm sure they already do.
Hell, they'll just encrypt their encrpyted encyptions to such an extent that by the time it's decrypted, the information will be useless to the decryptor.
I would first like to thank Jane for doing a much better job of covering this than the much too political Anandtech "tech" site. It is really getting ridiculous over there...
Yes the ability to trace your communications have been in place in the US since 1994, but this seems to be a grey area for me. You are now creating (or we to ensure you have the ability to create) a back door for hackers to potentially exploit. As I have read, currently websites have the ability to wiretap you now (as if you didn't already know that), but this will create a sort of "ready-state" that at a moments notice could be utilized. Currently the site would first have to be notified, setup the wiretap, then execute. This bill will create sort of a "flip switch".
Grey area here...(leaning towards not liking this).
He has been able to do a lot toward promoting the new world order plan his bosses (the global elite) want at any cost. People like their internet and their privacy - I keep hoping enough people will finally get mad enough to say NO MORE CHANGE - NO YOU CAN'T - OUT YOU GO!
2 simple words: Big Brother
Oh my Gosh this ir ridiculous, Obama keeps making this dumb bills that make us even more naked to the government and all in the name of "NATION SECURITY" bull crap
NOBAMA
Right, I no longer support this administration. That's one less vote for you.
This isn't to prevent crime or to be able to track down criminals, it's purely for control of the people. The Government wants more control over it's people so they know exactly where we are and what we're doing and how often we wipe our asses. Don't be surprised when in 20 or so years, a law is passed for mandatory chips in every new born baby so they can "identify" us a lot easier. As if they don't wiretap the internet already anyway. Terrorism is a cash camel. It gives them "justification" on spending billions and billions of dollars on weapons, the army, etc which in turn boosts the economy.
^ obama's administration... or obama's pawners? coz he is doing what he's told...
Right, I no longer support this administration. That's one less vote for you.
I never supported him, looks like I made the right choice.
It's times like this you need to ask what Lincoln would do? He'd probably put his foot in Obama's ass.
so i guess after they started putting bombs in cell phones the terrorsts stopped using them lol.
Welcome to the Third World!
I guess they were right; you give up one freedom, and eventually all your freedoms will erode.
Ridiculous... This is why I'm slowly losing faith in our government. National security my ass, pretty soon they'll be "wiretapping" our thoughts.
First they disallow encryption in the name of security.
Then they can legally decrypt torrents, allowing them the legal venue to chase after "pirates" in the name of powerful lobbies like the RIAA and MPAA.
"ok, lets see what this guy is doing. click that link....OH GOD ALT+F4!!!"
also, they need a legal wiretapping order, you have to be a suspect of a crime. people just need to stop exploding things way bigger than it needs to be.
Advertisements in my dreams? Wut?
I expect that eventually we'll be expected to keep unencrypted copies of all encrypted data on our hard disks so the Government can check it out if they think we might be doing something they don't like.
Ridiculous... This is why I'm slowly losing faith in our government.
Only slowly? Man, I went from not caring to losing all faith in the Australian Government in a matter of 6 months or less.
also, they need a legal wiretapping order, you have to be a suspect of a crime. people just need to stop exploding things way bigger than it needs to be.
Exactly. The next bill will rectify this inconvenience. That's exactly how Government works; chip away a little bit at a time.
If this doesn't pass, they'll water down the bill until it does. Once everyone gets used to the new invasion of privacy they'll try and chip away your freedoms with another outrageous bill that will get watered down until it just fits inside the realm of acceptable - a bit further along than the last one. Lather, rinse, repeat.
People are quite happy to give up freedom as long as it happens gradually and as long as it has a terrifying justification.
They have been doing this for years under the Bush administration and even before that except they are not yet fully able to wiretap every one and instead rely on key word searches and selective targeting of specific ip addresses.
they are already doing it. Now they want you to know they are doing it legally. America seriously why don't you do something about this?
Patriot act ?? why does this exist ?? is it to be sure you are being patriotic ? reminds me of a book about some time in the 80's
Like they don't already do this. Please...
I used to like the guy: I'm European, so he's better than the talking monkey that came before, but with these kinds of shenanigans the warm feeling is rapidly fleeting.
Technically we are all being traced even now on the web. Each website can know your IP, and the moderators know what you are browsing. Nothing special here, just would weed out some of the baddies better.
You are the reason that stuff likes this keeps happening. With that attitude, it would not take long until we live in a police state.
How about the Obama Admin bites my fleshy human butt?
They already invade our privacy by allowing the RIAA and MPAA to see what we have and they do nothing to protect consumers from the fals ads that steal information or the fake AV programs that make people buy another fake product and then get taken for even more money.
They say its to protect us yet they don't do a good job of it now so why should we even trust them?
All of the reactions to this article indicate that there are people out there that care about preserving online privacy. That said, if you are one of those people, you may be interested in a new site that is on your side. ThreadThat.com is a private, secure, threaded messaging application (like FB). Every message posted and file uploaded is encrypted end-to-end. For maximum privacy, you can use "Secret" messaging which lets you choose your own passkeys to encrypt your threads. For maximum security you can opt to use two-factor login authentication which requires entry of a single use 4-digit pin sent to your phone whenever you log in. ThreadThat.com is powerful and free.
i support Obama but not on this wtf