Two interesting articles recently appeared at CNET News regarding law enforcement’s push for unprecedented access to private information. This of course raises interesting privacy and first amendment issues. They are included below. A third article from the Washington Post is included at the end of this post under the title “An Unholy Alliance?” It is slightly off topic but outlines a potential threat to privacy also.
FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited
Written By: Declan McCullagh
The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.
Police want backdoor to Web users’ private data
Written By: Declan McCullagh
Anyone with an e-mail account likely knows that police can peek inside it if they have a paper search warrant.
But cybercrime investigators are frustrated by the speed of traditional methods of faxing, mailing, or e-mailing companies these documents. They’re pushing for the creation of a national Web interface linking police computers with those of Internet and e-mail providers so requests can be sent and received electronically.
An unholy alliance? The Washington Post published the following article on February 4, 2010 titled Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks. As I read it, I was reminded of a clever saying I heard years ago: “When the elephants dance the ants suffer”
![Glenn Beck - States Test the 10th Amendment [1 of 2] - May 7, 2009](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_Lv0Nfvkvo/default.jpg)