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FBI Goes to Facebook, Google to Talk Expanding Gov't Wiretapping

by Amar Toor on November 17, 2010 at 12:50 PM

robert muellerWe already knew that the FBI was pushing to expand its online wiretapping capacities. Now, the agency has apparently taken its campaign to Silicon Valley.

As the New York Times reports, FBI Director Robert Mueller met Tuesday with several tech companies -- including Facebook and Google -- to discuss a possible expansion to current legislation that would make it easier for federal agencies to wiretap users online. "I can confirm that FBI Director Robert Mueller is visiting Facebook during his trip to Silicon Valley," Facebook public policy manager Andrew Noyes said. FBI spokesman Michael Kortan confirmed Noyes' statement, but did not elaborate on what actually transpired at the meeting. Noyes went on to say, however, that it's too soon for Facebook to weigh in on the proposal. Google, meanwhile, declined to comment.

At the center of Mueller's campaign is the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. Passed in 1994, the Act requires all phone companies and broadband providers to guarantee that they can readily allow law enforcement agencies to intercept communications whenever a court order demands it. Currently, the law covers VoIP communications, but not other Internet exchanges. Mueller and the Obama administration are hoping to change that.

The proposal would require all Internet firms to develop systems capable of intercepting and unscrambling encrypted messages. Companies based outside of the U.S. would have to set up servers within the country, where the government could freely access them.

It sort of seems logical to include Internet companies under the umbrella of 'communications,' but the State Department and the Commerce Department worry that doing so, in this case, might go too far. Such a change, they argue, might discourage innovation, and would give a little too much power to the government. A task force assembled by the Obama administration is currently trying to put together legislation for the measure, which it hopes to present to Congress early next year.

Tags: congress, facebook, fbi, obama, ObamaAdministration, policy, politics, privacy, RobertMueller, security, SocialNetworking, top

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