ABA Family Legal Guide

Computer Law

Law Enforcement and the Computer

How do federal antiterrorism laws affect my Internet privacy?

The USA Patriot Act, enacted just six weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks, gives the U.S. Justice Department authority to install its DCS1000 Internet tracking device (formerly known as "Carnivore") at an Internet service provider if the government has probable cause to suspect cyberspace is being used to further terrorism. This state-of-the-art equipment can track all Internet activity, including e-mails, traveling through the ISP. The government says that with the use of filters law enforcement authorities can limit e-mail searches only to those communications permitted under a valid search warrant. However, civil rights groups and other opponents of the law say that the filtering software is not precise enough to limit surveillance to only those limited e-mails and that innocent cyberspace conversations are bound to be collected as an unintended result of the government's increased surveillance.

To illustrate the increased vigilance of the authorities, one need only look at the full name of the USA Patriot Act: the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. In addition, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 gives the federal government broad tracking and surveillance capabilities to thwart future acts of terrorism.