Carnivore on the Ropes?

Friday, June 15, 2001 By Senior Editor John H. Farr

The FBI's use of email surveillance technology originally known as Carnivore (since innocuously renamed "DCS-1000,") is being questioned by none other than Representative Dick Armey (Republican, TX), according to PC World.com. What's going on?

It turns out that at least some staunchly conservative politicians and judges are also strong advocates of personal privacy rights. Supreme court Justice Anthony Scalia, widely regarded as one of the most conservative on the court, wrote the majority opinion in a recent 5-4 ruling that struck down police use of thermal imaging devices to detect indoor marijuana growing. PC World.com says that Armey's concerns, relayed to Attorney general John Ashcroft, are related to this decision:

"Armey said it was reasonable to ask whether Carnivore 'similarly undermines the minimum expectation that individuals have that their personal communications will not be examined by law enforcement devices unless a specific court warrant has been issued.'"

Comments: [editor struck speechless]

http://www.applelinks.com/articles/2001/06/20010615112416.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 16, 2001