How the FBI Spies on Social Media
The FBI wants a back door into major social networking and e-mail providers’ sites, hoping to legally spy into people’s Internet use as they move away from traditional phone lines the agency can wiretap.
Bureau representatives are lobbying top Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, reports CNET, pushing for a legislative proposal that would require sites to alter their code, making their communications products friendly to wiretapping.
What’s Happening
The FBI says it has a “Going Dark” problem, running into trouble because one of its most effective tools, tapping into people’s phone lines, is no longer useful because people don’t use traditional phone lines. Instead, consumers depend more on Internet-based services, VoIP, and cellular service to communicate.
People simply don’t make phone calls anymore — which investigators can tap — but instead, communicate more through instant messages or texts, which are more difficult to track. Many of their messages go through private messaging services, such as the chat features on Facebook, Hangouts on Google+ or even by sending tweets through Twitter — none of which yet fall under federal laws that give the government access to monitor.
And the problem is growing, since experts say the social media messaging will soon bypass traditional text messaging, and the FBI wants to “listen” to those conversations just as if they are on a telephone.
What’s Really Happening
Federal authorities have been legally able to tap into private phone lines for some time using the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) passed back in 1994. The law requires telecommunications providers to make their systems wiretap-friendly.
The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to ISPs and colleges, but Web companies, like Facebook and Google, aren’t covered by the federal law, and they don’t have to change their source code to allow people’s communications to be seen.
The FCC and FBI may also look at reinterpreting CALEA to change other products, such as Skype and Xbox Live so agents can monitor those communications, too.
What’s Next
While talks between the FBI and the Internet agencies are quiet for now, that doesn’t mean they’ll stay quiet — or that the FBI will necessarily get its way where Internet companies are concerned.
Companies like Facebook and Google are already under fire by many users who feel sites compromise their privacy, and both have invested millions into advanced privacy settings to ease their users’ fears. They may protest the government’s plans to backdoor their sites, but in the end, they’ll likely give in.
After all, Facebook already cooperates with law enforcement officials by providing profile information upon official request, and the social network divulges details when someone is using the site for illegal activities.
In addition, since the FCC’s wiretapping law is already in place, Facebook and its fellow sites may have no other choice than to comply. This means that people who use the sites to communicate — for legal or illegal reasons — will have to scramble to find new, more private ways to speak with each other or risk having someone eavesdrop on their messages.
The Takeaway
The real challenge for the FBI’s plans may not lie with Internet companies, but from citizens fighting back against increasing law enforcement intrusion into their communications.
Already, the courts are full of cases and appeals about how law enforcement treats mobile phone privacy in regards to criminal tracking and the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from illegal search and seizure activities.
Some judges agree such monitoring does not violate the constitution, while others say people have a right to privacy that they don’t give up when they sign on for a service.
However, the FBI does already have federal precedent — through CALEA — meaning that challenges to a wiretapping law that governs Internet providers may not succeed without shaking up laws that have been in place for years.
In addition, the FBI can argue its request for a backdoor into Facebook and other sites just takes what’s becoming common police procedure a step further.
Police and prosecutors are increasingly using Facebook and Twitter for evidence to prosecute crimes and investigate fraud, and the FBI, by asking for a law change, is just making the practice official on a federal level.
Meanwhile, the practice could allow federal authorities to catch criminals more easily, but it could also mean that anyone using social media, instant messaging or e-mails to communicate may need to go back to a more old-fashioned method — speaking directly — to keep their private lives away from possibly prying ears.