FBI Carnivore Screwup Destroys E-Mail Evidence

An Anonymous Coward writes: "The FBI apparently used Carivore in an attempt to collect information on Osama bin Laden't network. Unfortunately they screwed up and collected information on "non-covered targets" (*ahem*, isn't this the sort of thing we weren't supposed to worry about...). Then the FBI tech was "so upset" that he destroyed ALL of the collected email, not only the information that was not covered by the warrant. Here is the SF Gate Story and EPIC's press release."

Comments

What's all the fuss about?

[iritant]

The guy goofed. What's nice to read is that he was upset about collecting information on innocent Americans, and that he deleted it. I would have been more upset if he did something with the information. Could you imagine the slashdot headline for *that*?

Re:What's all the fuss about?

[Radical Rad]

It is nice to think that there is an FBI agent who believes in upholding the fourth amendment. It is too bad he is at the bottom of the totem pole instead of the top.

Upset Agent

[Roarkk]

The best part of this article is the fact that an FBI agent was upset at collecting email that wasn't supposed to be collected.

Whether they have backups, whether they collected the information or not, it points out the fact that individuals in the FBI are concerned about privacy issues as much as many of us are.

A violation of federal wiretap law?

[Radical Rad]

The surveillance system captured not only the electronic communications of the court-authorized target, "but also picked up E-Mails on non-covered" individuals, a violation of federal wiretap law.

Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Notice that the Constitution does not say that illegal searches may be performed as long as any resulting evidence is not used against the persons being illegally searched. It says that it shall not happen. This interception of mail was not just a violation of federal wiretap law, it was a violation of the Bill of Rights. We are supposedly fighting a "war on terrorism" to protect our way of life, but that way of life is rooted in our Constitution. The only way to win the hearts and minds of the rest of the world is to stick to our principles and abide by the highest law of the land which is the U.S. Constitution.

Anyone have Colleen Rowley's Email Address?

[goingware]

If anyone knows how to email Colleen Rowley (the FBI agent who wrote the letter whose URL appears above), please send her the following URL:

Make a Bonfire of Your Reputations
http://www.goingware.com/reputation/

What the heck, I'll just post the speech here, it's not that long:

When I was asked to make this address I wondered what I had to say to you boys who are graduating. And I think I have one thing to say. If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you. Refuse to learn anything that implies collusion, whether it be a clerkship or a curacy, a legal fee or a post in a university. Retain the power of speech no matter what other power you may lose. If you can take this course, and in so far as you take it, you will bless this country. In so far as you depart from this course, you become dampers, mutes, and hooded executioners.

As a practical matter, a mere failure to speak out upon occassions where no statement is asked or expect from you, and when the utterance of an uncalled for suspicion is odious, will often hold you to a concurrence in palpable iniquity. Try to raise a voice that will be heard from here to Albany and watch what comes forward to shut off the sound. It is not a German sergeant, nor a Russian officer of the precinct. It is a note from a friend of your father's, offering you a place at his office. This is your warning from the secret police. Why, if you any of young gentleman have a mind to make himself heard a mile off, you must make a bonfire of your reputations, and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well.

I have seen ten years of young men who rush out into the world with their messages, and when they find how deaf the world is, they think they must save their strength and wait. They believe that after a while they will be able to get up on some little eminence from which they can make themselves heard. "In a few years," reasons one of them, "I shall have gained a standing, and then I shall use my powers for good." Next year comes and with it a strange discovery. The man has lost his horizon of thought, his ambition has evaporated; he has nothing to say. I give you this one rule of conduct. Do what you will, but speak out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don't be gagged. The time of trial is always. Now is the appointed time.

John J. Chapman
Commencement Address to the Graduating Class of Hobart College, 1900

I found Chapman's speech quoted in the printed edition of The Cluetrain Manifesto, and from the moment I read it, I was unable to rest until I had up on my website at the above URL.

It's not easy to speak out about what you believe in, but if more people did, the world would be a better place.

Re:FBI's "outdated" computer systems?

[delong]

Who modded this up as interesting?

This is the sort of ignorance that should have been completely destroyed by 9/11. Why do you not believe that the FBI has severely outdated machines? Because the typical Slashdotter has an extremely distorted perception of the scope and extent of governmental power and efficacy. When the CIA starts up a venture capital firm to fund technology ideas to jump start itself in playing catch-up with the private sector, that says something. When the NSA goes on 60 Minutes and says "we're friggin way behind," that speaks volumes. The government USED to have the biggest and the best. Today, the private sector, as far as information technology goes, is WAY ahead of the agencies.

Remember, when Clinton entered office in 93, there WERE NO COMPUTERS in the White House! They still USED TELETYPES. In 93!

Derek