p.m. EST ) - The FBI's controversial e-mail surveillance tool can retrieve
all communications that go through an Internet service - far more than FBI
officials have said it does - a recent test of its potential sweep found,
according to bureau documents. An FBI official involved with the test of the
tool known as Carnivore stressed Friday that although Carnivore has the
ability to grab a large quantity of e-mails and Web communications, current
law and specific court orders restrict its use. Neverthe! less, privacy experts
said they are worried about the breadth of Carnivore's capability and
questioned why the FBI even conducted such a test in June if it intends to
use the tool only for narrow purposes. "That really contradicts the
explanation that the FBI has provided as to the purpose of the system and how
it works," said David Sobel, general counsel for the Washington-based
Electronic Privacy Information Center. "We've been led to believe that the
purpose of Carnivore is to filter and pinpoint the particular communications
that the FBI is authorized to obtain. If that's true, then why are they
testing the system's ability to store and archive everything?" Sobel's group
recently obtained the FBI documents providing the test results as part of
litigation it brought under the Freedom of Information Act. In the lab
report, FBI officials said Carnivore "could reliably capture and archive all
unfiltered traffic to the interna! l hard drive" and could save the information
on removable high-capacity disks as well. Marcus Thomas, head of the FBI's
cybertechnology section, said in an interview with The Associated Press that
the test was done only to check Carnivore's "breaking point." He said the
tool wouldn't be used to capture broad swaths of Internet communications in a
real-world situation. Thomas was one of the FBI agents who approved the lab
report. "Certainly, in operation, you could set the filters up to do
nothing," Thomas said. "But our procedures are very detailed, we'll only do
what we're allowed to in a court order." The difference of opinion is the
latest in what has become a debate between Carnivore's capabilities and its
actual use. While law enforcement officials have admitted that Carnivore can
capture much more than e-mail, including Internet chats and Web browsing, FBI
officials insist it is only used to copy e-mail to or from a crimina! l suspect
in accordance with a court order. Opponents say the "black box" nature of the
system keeps the public from knowing what it can really do, and its
installation at an Internet provider may cause network problems. The
Electronic Privacy Information Center started receiving batches of
Carnivore-related material in October, after a court ordered the FBI to
release the information. EPIC representatives said they have received about
550 pages so far, and expect to get only about 30 percent of the 3,000
documents related to Carnivore. Most of the release documents have large
portions blacked out. FBI officials say Carnivore has been used in about 25
cases, most involving national security. Congress considered several measures
this year to rein in Carnivore, but none survived. Lawmakers have said that
they may consider measures again next year. An independent review of
Carnivore was ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno, an! d that report was due
to be received by the Justice Department on Friday, Justice spokeswoman Chris
Watney said. Watney said the report is expected to be released to the public
early next week, after it is edited to eliminate references to Carnivore's
internal blueprints and other sensitive material.
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