Can you say ‘rubber stamp?’ FBI and NSA requests never denied by secret court
You likely don’t know much about the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Though it keeps a low profile, this is the court the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency go to when they want permission to put someone under surveillance. And they don’t get turned down, according to Reuters, citing a Justice Department memo. In 2015 the court received and approved 1,457 requests from the FBI and NSA. There were a bit fewer requests in 2014, but all of those were approved as well.
The surveillance requests are for email or telephone intercepts. If granted, which is apparently always, they generally are carried out with the assistance of Internet telecommunications service providers.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was founded in 1978 to hear requests by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance on foreign suspects present in the U.S. It stands to reason that if you’re spying on spies, it’s better not to ask for permission in open court and leave a public paper trail.
The secretive court was set up to scrutinize the requests in secret, in order to ensure compliance with applicable civil rights requirements. That all makes sense. That every single request is essentially approved, however, seems at least curious if not a bit off. The government response about its perfect record of approvals is that the FBI and NSA are very careful when applying for surveillance and that the court at times modifies the requests. In 2014, 19 requests were modified, in 2015, 80 were altered.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court hears more than surveillance requests. The FBI can also file National Security Letters (NSLs), asking Internet and telecommunications providers for customer information on foreign residents and U.S. citizens. Some NSLs ask for subscriber names, addresses, and billing information only, while others also request browsing history. The majority of information requests also come with a gag order, prohibiting the companies from informing customers of the requests. No information was provided showing the number of NSLs that were approved or denied.
US govt quietly tweaks rules to let cops, Feds hack computers anywhere, anytime
On Thursday the US Supreme Court approved a change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. It sounds innocuous, but the effects will be felt around the world.
Under today's rules, US cops and FBI agents need to know where a computer is before they can get a warrant to directly hack the machine – because they have to ensure the judge and court they approach for the warrant has geographical jurisdiction over the physical location of the computer. In other words, a district judge can't issue a search warrant against someone outside her district.
Under the proposed rule change [PDF] this geographical information won't be needed and a single search warrant can be used to authorize American crimefighters to infiltrate any PC, Mac or other device anywhere in the world.
In addition, the rule change will also allow the FBI and others to hack into victims' computers that have already been broken into by cyber-criminals. This is being billed as a measure to help track down the operators of botnets.
The US Department of Justice has been proposing the rule change for three years, saying it's just a procedural matter that doesn't mean the police get any extra powers. Not surprisingly, civil libertarians, technology companies, and some politicians disagree.
"Instead of directly asking Congress for authorization to break into computers, the Justice Department is now trying to quietly circumvent the legislative process by pushing for a change in court rules, pretending that its government hacking proposal is a mere procedural formality rather than the massive change to the law that it really is," said Kevin Bankston, director of new America's Open Technology Institute.
Under the proposed rule change [PDF] this geographical information won't be needed and a single search warrant can be used to authorize American crimefighters to infiltrate any PC, Mac or other device anywhere in the world.
In addition, the rule change will also allow the FBI and others to hack into victims' computers that have already been broken into by cyber-criminals. This is being billed as a measure to help track down the operators of botnets.
The US Department of Justice has been proposing the rule change for three years, saying it's just a procedural matter that doesn't mean the police get any extra powers. Not surprisingly, civil libertarians, technology companies, and some politicians disagree.
"Instead of directly asking Congress for authorization to break into computers, the Justice Department is now trying to quietly circumvent the legislative process by pushing for a change in court rules, pretending that its government hacking proposal is a mere procedural formality rather than the massive change to the law that it really is," said Kevin Bankston, director of new America's Open Technology Institute.
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