18 Aug 2000, 12:00 am
The Carnivore system monitors ISP traffic in order to intercept information contained in the e-mails of criminal suspects. Carnivore can reportedly scan millions of e-mails each second and is capable of providing law enforcement agents the ability to intercept all of an ISP's customers' digital communications. Questions have been raised in Congress, in the media and among privacy groups concerning the legality of Carnivore and its potential for abuse.
On Wednesday, EPIC asked US District Court Judge James Robertson to order the FBI to release information concerning the Carnivore surveillance system no later than 1st December. In a lawsuit filed by EPIC, Judge Robertson had ordered the FBI to establish a timetable for release of the information. The FBI identified 3,000 pages of relevant material and set a release date for the first batch of documents in 45 days, followed by batches of the remaining documents at 45 day intervals. However, neither the Justice Department nor the FBI gave any commitment to release any specific number of pages in each interval, hence EPIC’s claim that “the proposed schedule is far too open-ended.” EPIC says the process could drag on for years.
The government argues that delayed release is necessary to avoid disclosure of trade secrets obtained from companies during the monitoring of communications.