Reno Will Speed Up E-Mail Review
By D. IAN HOPPER
08:05 PM ET 08/03/00
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday she
will accelerate a promised review of the FBI's e-mail surveillance
system and do everything she can to calm privacy advocates' worries
about it. In a weekly media briefing, Reno reiterated that she will have
an independent panel of experts critique the inner workings of
``Carnivore,'' the FBI's system.
``The thought would be that we would show the source code to
these experts and then create the opportunity for us to have a
discussion about any weaknesses that they saw in the whole
process,'' she said.
Carnivore is the term used for the entire system, a computer
running the Microsoft Windows NT operating system and software that
scans and captures ``packets,'' the standard unit of Internet
traffic, as they travel through an internet service provider's
network. The FBI can install a Carnivore unit at a service
provider's network station and configure it to capture only e-mail
going to or from a person under investigation.
At a Capitol Hill hearing last month, FBI officials said
Carnivore has been used 25 times, including 16 times this year.
None of the cases has gone to trial, so the FBI has disclosed no
detailed information about them.
Privacy advocates say that only the FBI knows what Carnivore can
do, and Internet providers are not allowed access to the system
while it is installed.
On Wednesday, the Washington-based Electronic Privacy
Information Center asked federal judge to force release of
Carnivore's computer source code. U.S. District Judge James
Robertson gave the FBI 10 days to respond to the group's Freedom of
Information Act request. The American Civil Liberties Union has
filed a similar request.
Reno refused to comment on the court cases. Earlier, FBI
officials suggested they would object to the request because
Carnivore is an investigative tool and making it public might
enable suspects to circumvent it.
Congress has taken notice of Carnivore, as well. After the July
hearings, two legislators introduced bills to restrict the FBI's
power to monitor e-mail traffic, and several high-ranking
congressman have reservations about its use.
Reno said the review would start as soon as Justice Department
attorneys agreed on the process - with her encouragement.
``I don't know that I can satisfy all the privacy advocates,''
she said, ``but I want to try to do everything I can.''
Related Links:
FBI: http://www.fbi.gov
Electronic Privacy Information Center:
http://www.epic.org
American Civil Liberties Union:
http://www.aclu.org
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