Plan would allow FBI access to private Internet data without court approval

The Obama Administration wants to make it easier for the FBI to access people's internet activity in the course of an investigation. The proposal would allow the FBI to force telecom companies to turn over information about their customers' Internet activity if it's part of a terrorism investigation or in the national interest. And they could access the data before a judge gives approval. FSRN's Jacob Fenston reports:

TRANSCRIPT:

The Justice Department wants to add four words to the law that lets the FBI demand information without going to a judge:

“Electronic communications transactional records.”

Greg Nojeim is with the Center for Democracy and Technology.

He says the FBI could get access to what websites someone looked at, and who they exchanged e-mails with:

“That’s a very dangerous power. That kind of power ought to be available to the FBI, but only for basic identifying information. Who is the person who belongs to this e-mail account? But the transactional data, where did the person go on the Internet, who did they communicate with, that kind of information is more sensitive, there ought to be prior judicial review.”

Currently the FBI can get access to phone records without going to a judge. But it’s not entirely clear whether that same power applies to internet records. A Justice Department spokesperson declined an interview,  but in a statement said the FBI already has that power -- the proposed change would simply be a clarification.

But according to a 2008 opinion by the Justice Department’s own Office of Legal Counsel, the FBI can only use national security letters, or NSLs, to get phone records:

“The opinion states on its front page that the only thing you can get with an NSL is name, address, dates of service, and local and long distance toll billing records.”

That applies to both cell phones and land lines. The Justice Department spokesperson said internet records are the online equivalent to phone bills.

But Michelle Richardson with the ACLU says that’s a stretch:

“Internet records are so much more sensitive than just a list of phone numbers that you dial.”

She says by looking at someone’s browser history, you can put together a complete picture of their life:

“Any illnesses they have, or mental health issues, their financial situation, political groups they belong to, religious affiliation, what they read, what videos they watch online, what they buy, what they eat.”

Any FBI field office can issue a national security letter to a telecom company demanding customer information, and bypassing judicial review, as long as the person in question is part of an investigation.  The Bureau says that power is needed to act quickly in terrorism cases. The FBI issued around 50,000 letters a year between 2003 and 2006, according to the most recent Justice Department report.

Jacob Fenston, FSRN, Washington.

Photo credit: FBI file photo