The federal wiretap law was enacted in 1968, and has undergone major revisions since then as Congress has tried to keep pace with changing technology. Congress has tried to balance the often competing interests of law enforcement, privacy rights, and technological innovation. Technology continues to change, however, sometimes in ways that interfere with law enforcement surveillance, but more often in ways that enhance government capabilities. Most American citizens, for example, are relying more and more on electronic communications for a range of purposes from communicating with their workplace to researching term papers to scouting out the best of the new movies for a weekend date. In the process they are exposing more details of their lives to potential law enforcement surveillance and are leaving increasingly revealing and easily captured "electronic footprints" wherever they go.
A recent federal court of appeals decision called into question one of the basic tenets of the wiretap laws: that law enforcement has to obtain a wiretap order to engage in real-time, ongoing interception of email communications. The decision in United States v. Councilman applies only in New England but could have broader ramifications if left in place.
CDT believes that we must strengthen privacy laws and tighten the standards for government access. In December 2005, we issued a major report that outlined the ways in which changes in technology have left privacy laws inadequate and recommended a number of privacy improvements. Digital Search and Seizure: Updating Privacy Protections to Keep Pace with Technology, December 2005 [pdf]
HR 5018 (106th Congress)