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Details On 2001 Wiretaps

Posted by timothy on from the don't-worry-just-us-eavesdroppers dept.

gjhart writes with this excerpt from a New York Times article: "...a report issued in late May sheds some light on who, in fact, ought to be worried that someone is listening in on the line ... Despite government concerns about the use of encryption technology by criminals, it was encountered in only 16 cases last year, and in each instance, investigators were able to decode the communication."

3 of 7 comments (clear)

  1. Encryption not in Patriot Act by Bouncings · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I think we should read something into the fact that encryption was not in the "Patriot Act" (you know, the anti-liberty, pro-FBI bill passed with no debate last year?). No one seems to be really pushing for more encryption controls as strongly as the rest of the laundry list. Perhaps the government has found some cracks, and would like to give the public a false sense of security?

    My two cents.

    --
    -- Ken Kinder ken@_nospam_kenkinder.com http://kenkinder.com/
  2. More details available at Politech... by Arthur+Dent · · Score: 3, Interesting
    This report gives more details:
    Federal and state police legally intercepted approximately 2.3 million
    conversations and pager communications in 2001, spending about $72
    million in the process, the federal court system's annual report says.

    The true number of authorized wiretaps is likely to be far greater.
    This week's figures do not include all U.S. Customs surveillance --
    some of their records were lost in the destruction of the World Trade
    Center -- or those super-secret investigations done under the Foreign
    Intelligence Surveillance Act.

    The total number of wiretaps jumped 25 percent from 2000. Drug-related
    crimes were the cause of 78 percent of them.

    And this is the interesting bit:

    Only court-authorized wiretaps appear in the report, not illegal ones performed
    in violation of state and federal law. In 1999, the Los Angeles County Public
    Defender's office estimated that the local police illegally under-reported actual
    wiretaps by a factor of ten.
    1. Re:More details available at Politech... by isorox · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, this bit interestes me the most


      This week's figures do not include all U.S. Customs surveillance --
      some of their records were lost in the destruction of the World Trade
      Center


      Hasnt anyone in america heard of off site backups?