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The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 4, Number13
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A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
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CDT POLICY POST Volume 4, Number 13 May 21, 1998
CONTENTS: (1) CDT Urges FCC to Protect Phone Privacy Against
FBI Surveillance Demands
(2) How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
(3) About CDT, Contacting us
** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner intact **
Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of gbrowning@cdt.org
|PLEASE SEE END OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO
SUBSCRIBE, AND HOW TO UN-SUBSCRIBE|
_____________________________________________________________________________
(1) CDT URGES FCC TO PROTECT PHONE PRIVACY AGAINST FBI SURVEILLANCE DEMANDS
The privacy rights of Americans are at risk, and the nation's historical
balance between privacy and law enforcement is being upset, by FBI wiretap
proposals, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) argued in
extensive comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission late
yesterday.
CDT's comments can be found at:
http://www.cdt.org/digi_tele/calea052098.html
The Commission is reviewing the impact of the 1994 Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), a law that CDT argued in the
comments it filed was only 'intended to preserve a minimum law
enforcement surveillance capability in the face of technological change'
and was not meant 'to serve as the basis for mandated expansions in that
capability.' CALEA, CDT explained, is the latest chapter in the 30-year
history of federal wiretap laws, which have always sought to balance
constitutional privacy protections and law enforcement interests.
CALEA calls for telecommunications companies to ensure that their systems
do not impede law enforcement wiretaps by Oct. 25, 1998. But FBI efforts to
use the law to enhance its surveillance abilities -- including creation of
a cellular phone tracking system -- led CDT in March to ask the Commission
to step in to protect privacy. At the same time, the FBI,
telecommunications industry associations and individual companies also
filed petitions with the FCC raising a number of issues. The FBI asked the
Commission to use the law to impose further surveillance capabilities, such
as monitoring parties to a conference call after the suspect has dropped
off the call. The Commission issued a notice April 20 soliciting public
comment on the implementation of CALEA.
Responding to the Commission's request for comments on the privacy issues
inherent in CALEA's implementation, CDT argued that electronic surveillance
capabilities have been subject to both technological and legal limitations
since Congress first passed legislation on the issue in 1968. Both in that
year and in 1994, when CALEA was passed, Congress 'crafted a legislative
scheme intended to balance the interests of law enforcement and privacy,'
CDT said.
The FCC has a 'pivotal' role in ensuring that Congress' historical balance
is applied to technologies that form the basis for a wide variety of new
communications services, CDT argued. CDT's challenge highlights two
technologies - wireless location information and packet network services -
that are at the very heart of the digital communications revolution,
because:
** tens of millions of Americans rely on cellular phones and PCS devices
for personal and professional communications on a daily basis, and
** the Internet, with its highly efficient packet-based architecture, is
credited as the sine qua non of the information revolution, and has
expanded commercial, political, and educational opportunities for
individuals in the United States and around the world.
CDT asked the FCC to reject the FBI's location tracking proposal, to
develop standards for surveillance in packet networks that protect the
privacy of communications the government is not authorized to intercept,
and to reject FBI requests for capabilities that go beyond the narrow
mandate of the Act.
___________________________________________________________________________
(2) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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_____________________________________________________________________________
(3) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications
technologies.
Contacting us:
General information: info@cdt.org
World Wide Web: http://www.cdt.org/
Snail Mail: The Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
(v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968
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End Policy Post 4.13 5/21/98
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