Carnivore, a controversial surveillance system used by the FBI to
monitor the e-mail traffic and internet browsing of criminal
suspects, has been cleared by the US Justice Department following
an investigation into the legality of the system.
The Carnivore system monitors ISP traffic in order to intercept
information on criminal suspects. A court order is officially
needed before the FBI can use Carnivore on an individual. However,
the system can reportedly scan millions of e-mails each second and
some have suggested that it is capable of providing the FBI with
the ability to intercept all of an ISP's customers' digital
communications. Questions were raised in Congress, in the media and
among privacy groups concerning the legality of Carnivore and its
potential for abuse. The US Attorney General requested the Justice
Department’s investigation.
A 121 page draft report has been released by the Justice
Department based on tests carried out by an independent group of
experts. The report observes that Carnivore does not include
adequate provisions to check that FBI agents do not abuse the
system. Use of the system produces no audit trail meaning that the
FBI can monitor anybody’s web traffic without leaving any trace of
having done so. Notwithstanding this apparent lack of
accountability, the report concludes that the FBI should continue
to use Carnivore.
The review panel dismissed allegations that Carnivore could
monitor all traffic because it “does not have nearly enough
power.”
