FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited
What next? Are they going to go all the way and pull a 1984 and put cameras in all of our houses to make sure we aren’t breaking the law?
WASHINGTON–The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.
FBI Director Robert Mueller supports storing Internet users’ “origin and destination information,” a bureau attorney said at a federal task force meeting on Thursday.
As far back as a 2006 speech, Mueller had called for data retention on the part of Internet providers, and emphasized the point two years later when explicitly asking Congress to enact a law making it mandatory. But it had not been clear before that the FBI was asking companies to begin to keep logs of what Web sites are visited, which few if any currently do.
The FBI is not alone in renewing its push for data retention. As CNET reported earlier this week, a survey of state computer crime investigators found them to be nearly unanimous in supporting the idea. Matt Dunn, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the Department of Homeland Security, also expressed support for the idea during the task force meeting.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Yes. in Russia they used to call such watchful eyes the NKDV. In Cuba they call it EL COMITE DE BARRIO/THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH COMMITTEE .. who knows what they’ll end up calling it in this country …it is all basically the same thing, and, I believe that the root of all this getting stirred up here in this country comes from Bush’s paranoia which nobody seemed to be able to put a stop to and which those in power are continuing to use, for exploitation, power, and control … same premise laid down for NKDV or Neighborhood Watch Committees.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
First t hey’ll have to ban the reading of 1984 and it’ll become a dirty word. I saw this over the weekend. It’s getting very murky .
February 8th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
The reason this is crazy is why are these sites are allowed to exist at all if visiting them can be a condemnable act at a later date. So its ok to have a site, that if visited, can be used against the viewer? This is just like complex income tax laws that people can accidentally cross and be at the mercy of their government. It is very possible that a person might not know that a site they visit is “citeable” at a later date until after they visit the site and perhaps realize the site is crap. Then what?
If no commerce happens, and no information is being exchanged between viewer and site owner that can endanger kids, people should not be put on lists.