| Carnivore is the unimaginably poorly named FBI technology used in the late 1990s in order to execute trap and trace or pen registers on Internet networks. Eventually it occurred to the FBI that "Carnivore" might have been a poor selection of names, so it renamed the technology DCS-1000. The FBI describes Carnivore as follows:
Carnivore is, in essence, a special filtering tool that can gather the information authorized by court order, and only that information. It permits law enforcement, for example, to gather only the email addresses of those persons with whom the drug dealer is communicating, without allowing any human being, either from law enforcement or the service provider, to view private information outside of the scope of the court's order. In other words, Carnivore is a minimization tool that permits law enforcement strictly to comply with court orders, strongly to protect privacy, and effectively to enforce the law to protect the public interest. In addition, Carnivore creates an audit trail that demonstrates exactly what it is capturing.
[Gregory] Simply because the FBI has authority to use Carnivore, it does not mean that they will use the technology. They may be satisfied if the ISP gathers the information on its own. According to the FBI
If the service provider can comply with the order and provide us with only the addressing information required by the court order, it will do so and we will not employ Carnivore. If, however, the service provider is unwilling or unable to comply with the order, we simply cannot give a criminal a free pass. It is for that narrow set of circumstances that the FBI designed "Carnivore."
[Gregory] Increasingly, Carnivore capabilities are bing required of ISPs and VoIP service providers pursuant to the FCC's CALEA authority.
To say that Carnivore has stirred a controversy is an understatement. Technology is an equal opportunity empowerer. It may give the bad guys greater opportunity to be bad. It may give good guys better opportunity to protect. The problem is, as we all know from history, at times the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys. And one of the greatest ways of ensuring that the good guys stay the good guys is fundamental democratic principles of open government and accountability. Accountability over the odd guy in a van with ear phones clipped into the telephone pole is not the same as accountability over a black box which can consume all communication over a pipe, whether within the scope of the authority or not. The question is, "who watches over those who watch over us." [EPIC] Foundational democratic principles have not yet adjusted well to the power of the new technology to both make good efforts better and bad efforts worse.
Government Activity
- The FBI renamed Carnivore DCS-1000.
- Draft Report: Independent Technical Review of the Carnivore System Nov 17, 2000
- A Draft Report Entitled Independent Technical Review of the Carnivore System has been publicly released. Comments on the Report can be submitted by 12/1 to Review.Panel@usdoj.gov. or mailed to Carnivore Review Panel, U.S. Department of Justice, Room 1744, 950 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20530. IITRI expects to provide DOJ with a final version of its review on December 8. That panel expects to present its final report to the Attorney General on or about December 20. DOJ Notice page. Formal Comments can be viewed here.
- EPIC's Statement 11/21
- Jul 24 House Constitutional Subcommittee Hearing on FBI's Carnivore.
- Statement of Kevin Di Gregory, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division, Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Committee on the Judiciary on "Carnivore" and the Fourth Amendment (July 24, 2000)
Links
News
- FBI's Carnivore Is Toothless, eweek 2/1/2005
- Carnivore no more, FCW 2/1/2005
- Bush Grabs New Power for FBI, Wired 1/8/2004
- Alarm at Pentagon's email snooping, Guardian 5/21/03
- ACLU Challenges Wire-Tap Decision, Wired 2/19/03
- Ashcroft proposes vast new surveillance powers, BW 2/12/03
- Cuffing Big Brother, USA Today 2/12/03
- Conferees in Congress Bar Using a Pentagon Project on Americans, NYT 2/12/03
- Carnivore Review Team Rudely Unmasked Sept 29, 2000 theregister
- Both Parties Wary of Data Mining, Wired 1/31/03
- Senate limits Pentagon 'data-mining', MSNBC 1/27/03
- Senator Seeks Curbs On Computer Dragnet, Reuters 1/24/03
- Senators vow to halt `data mining' project, San Jose 1/17/03
- Wyden: No Funding for Total Info Awareness Program, Internet News 1/17/03
- Pentagon database plan hits snag, MSNBC 1/17/03
- ACLU: You're being watched, CNET 1/17/03
- Big Brother No Longer a Fiction, ACLU 1/17/03
- Bush Wants Real-time Web Monitoring, Vnunet 12/20/02
- Bush's Year Of U.S. Surveillance, Wired 1/3/03
- Cities Say No To Federal Snooping, Wired 12/20/02
- US Reportedly Will Propose Internet Monitoring, VOA 12/20/02
- Pentagon defends 'Big Brother' plans, MSNBC 11/20/02
- Judge rules cops' hacker went too far CNET 11/15/02
- UK ISPs oppose data retention Register 10/23/02
- UK ISPs just say no Inquirer 10/23/02
- Protesting the Big Brother Lens, Little Brother Turns an Eye Blind, NYT 10/7/02
- Canada's Cyber-Snooping Plans Raise Ire, Reuters 9/26/02
- FBI Digs Deeper Into The Web, CNET 6/5/02
- Primer: The FBI's Controversial Carnivore Surveillance Program, Wash Post 6/5/02
- Wi-Fi Changes Meeting Dynamics, 802.11 6/5/02
- U.S. Net Snooping Out Of Control?, Newsfactor 7/24/02
- EU Law Turns ISPs Into Spies?, Wired 5/29/02
- Memo: FBI Destroyed Terrorism E-Mails, AP 5/29/02
- FBI wants more surveillance power, MSNBC 5/29/02
- Memo: FBI destroyed terrorism e-mails, USA Today 5/29/02
- EPIC: FBI's CARNIVORE SYSTEM DISRUPTED ANTI-TERROR INVESTIGATION, EPIC 5/29/02
- Court to decide if wiretap laws apply to e-mail , USA Today 2/20/02
- Judge: FBI's PC-snooping perfectly lawful, USA Today 12/28/01
- Government Internet Snooping: Out of Control?, Newsfactor 12/18/01
- FBI Confirms 'Magic Lantern Exists, MSNBC 12/14/01
- FBI 'Magic Lantern' Reality Check, Register 12/4/01
- New hacker tool could target Web servers, CNET 11/23/01
- FBI snoop tool old hat for hackers, CNET 11/23/01
- FBI develops 'Trojan horse' software for better eavesdropping, CNET 11/23/01
- FBI Pushes Telcos To Ease Monitoring, MSNBC 11/23/01
- FBI develops new 'Magic Lantern' snooping tool, USAToday 11/23/01
- Business As Usual Under Surveillance Law, BW 11/7/01
- FBI Eyes Packet Taps, Interactive Week 10/18/01
- Lawmakers Put Brakes On E-surveillance, Newsbytes 10/1/01
- This Is How We Know Echelon Exists, Register 9/14/01
- FBI Ordered To Reveal PC Snooping Technique, ITWorld 8/10/01
- Armey, ACLU condemn tech surveillance efforts, USAToday 7/12/01
- FBI's 'Carnivore' Might Target Wireless Text, Washpost 8/24/01
- Carnivore Scrutiny Part Deux?, Infoworld 6/15/01
- Carnivore 'No Problem' for New E-Mail Encryption, Newsfactor 6/15/01
- Carnivore review urged in light of high court ruling, USAToday 6/15/01
- Concerns Remain About FBI's 'Carnivore' Wiretap, IDG 3/12/01
- FBI Takes The Teeth Out Of Carnivore's Name, CNET 2/9/01
- Ashcroft to Chew On Carnivore, Wired 01/29/01
- Experts: Carnivore review had no teeth Dec 6 zdnet
- Positive 'Carnivore' Review Draws Fire Dec 18 washtech
- Congress Peers Deeper Into Carnivore Dec 1, 2000 theregister
- FBI Takes U.S. on a Carnivore Cruise Nov 27, 2000 EcommerceTimes
- FBI's e-mail surveillance tool questioned Nov 17, 2000 nandotimes
- Carnivore More Powerful Than Once Thought Nov 17, 2000 usatoday
- Critics Slam 'Whitewash' of FBI Email-Tracking Tool Nov 24, 2000 washtech
- FBI Gets Carnivore Approval ... Nov 24, 2000 wired
- Report finds risk but supports Carnivore email surveillance Nov 24, 2000 cnet
- Report: FBI could abuse Carnivore Nov 24, 2000 zdnet
- Armey Aims Attack At Carnivore Oct 20, 2000 internetnews
- Carnivore Debate Centers On FBI Trustworthiness Washtech 9/11
- Feds Seek techserver Review Of Controversial Carnivore Aug 25, 2000 techserver
- Feds seek review of controversial Carnivore software Aug 25, 2000
- DOJ solicits universities to review Carnivore Aug 25, 2000 nwfusion
- Group Wants Speedier Carnivore Disclosure Aug 18, 2000 techweb
- DOJ Reveals Details of Carnivore Review WashTech Aug 11
- Reno Vows to Speed Carnivore Investigation Aug 3, 2000 washtech
- Reno Vows Responsibility for 'Carnivore' Review Panel Aug 3, 2000 newsbytes
- Congress To Hold Hearings On FBI Carnivore July 14, 2000 newsbytes House Constitution Subcommittee July 24
- Congress To Hold Hearings On FBI Cyber-Snoop Device July 14, 2000 washtech
- EarthLink Just Says No To FBI's Carnivore July 14, 2000 zdnet
- EarthLink Won't Install FBI Device July 14, 2000 cnet
- EarthLink dodges FBI's Carnivore July 14, 2000 usatoday
- FBI's Internet Wiretaps Raise Privacy Concerns July 12, 2000 washtech
- FBI's Carnivore: Gnawing At Liberty? July 12, 2000 zdnet
- Privacy advocates fight FBI's e-mail snooping system July 12, 2000 nandotimes
- ACLU: Law Needs 'Carnivore' Fix July 12, 2000 wired
Echelon
|
