[Infowarrior] - Judge prods FBI over future Internet surveillance plans

[Richard Forno]

Judge prods FBI over future Internet surveillance plans

Federal judge tells FBI to do more to comply with open government laws when disclosing what backdoors it wants Internet companies to create for government surveillance.

by Declan McCullagh
November 2, 2012 4:00 AM PDT  
 
A federal judge has rejected the FBI's attempts to withhold information about its efforts to require Internet companies to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

CNET has learned that U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled on Tuesday that the government did not adequately respond to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Seeborg, in San Francisco, ordered (PDF) a "further review of the materials previously withheld" in the lawsuit, which seeks details about what the FBI has dubbed "Going Dark" -- the bureau's ongoing effort to force companies including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google to alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

   
One almost-entirely-redacted document that the FBI turned over. Click for larger image.

(Credit: FBI)
"We must ensure that our ability to obtain communications pursuant to court order is not eroded," FBI Director Robert Mueller told a U.S. Senate committee in September. Currently, Mueller said, many companies "are not required to build or maintain intercept capabilities."

The FBI says lawful investigations are thwarted because Internet companies aren't required to build in back doors in advance, or because technology doesn't permit it. In May, CNET reported that the bureau has quietly asked Web companies not to oppose a law that would levy new wiretap requirements on social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail. During an appearance two weeks later at a Senate hearing, Mueller confirmed that the bureau is pushing for "some form of legislation."

Judge Seeborg's ruling this week also ordered the FBI to make it more obvious which Going Dark-related documents were being withheld from public view, something the EFF said has been unreasonable and confusing. He gave both sides 15 days to "meet and confer to negotiate a timetable for the FBI to complete" its revisions.

Seeborg did not, however, make a final ruling about what must be turned over. The Justice Department says it has identified 2,662 pages that might be relevant and has turned over 707 pages. For its part, the EFF argues that they've been heavily redacted -- or had pages completely removed -- in violation of open-government laws.

David Hardy, section chief for the FBI's record management division, had told the court that internal documents about a congressional briefing should not be released in full because ...

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57544139-38/judge-prods-fbi-over-future-internet-surveillance-plans/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

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