20 August 1999. TT DN. Add CDT URL for the Cyberspace Electronic Security Act and DoJ section by section analysis.
The Washington Post
By Robert O’Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 20, 1999; Page A1
The Justice Department wants to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to obtain search warrants to secretly enter suspects' homes or offices and disable security on personal computers as a prelude to a wiretap or further search, according to documents and interviews with Clinton administration officials.
In a request set to go to Capitol Hill, Justice officials will ask lawmakers to authorize covert action in response to the growing use of software programs that encrypt, or scramble, computer files, making them inaccessible to anyone who does not have a special code or "key," according to an Aug. 4 memo by the department that describes the plan.
Justice officials worry that such software "is increasingly used as a means to facilitate criminal activity, such as drug trafficking, terrorism, white-collar crime, and the distribution of child pornography," according to the memo, which has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies.
Legislation drafted by the department, called the Cyberspace Electronic Security Act, would enable investigators to get a sealed warrant signed by a judge permitting them to enter private property, search through computers for passwords and install devices that override encryption programs, the Justice memo shows.
The law would expand existing search warrant powers to allow agents to penetrate personal computers for the purpose of disabling encryption. To extract information from the computer, agents would still be required to get additional authorization from a court.
The proposal is the latest twist in an intense, years-long debate between the government and computer users who want to protect their privacy by encrypting documents.
Although Justice officials say their proposal is "consistent with constitutional principles," the idea has alarmed civil libertarians and members of Congress.
"They have taken the cyberspace issue and are using it as justification for invading the home," said James Dempsey, senior staff counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group in the District that tracks privacy issues.
Police rarely use covert entry to pave the way for electronic surveillance. For example, federal law enforcement agencies obtained court approval just 34 times last year under eavesdropping statutes to install microphones, according to the 1998 wiretap report issued by the Administrative Office of the Unites States Courts.
David L. Sobel, general counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, predicted the number of secret break-ins by police would soar if the proposal is adopted because personal computers offer such a tantalizing source of evidence for investigators -- including memos, diaries, e-mail, bank records and a wealth of other data.
"Traditionally, the concept of 'black bag' jobs, or surreptitious entries, have been reserved for foreign intelligence," Sobel said. "Do we really want to alter the standard for physical entry?"
The proposal follows unsuccessful efforts by FBI Director Louis J. Freeh and other Justice officials to secure laws requiring computers or software to include "back doors" that would enable investigators to sidestep encryption.
Those proposals, most notably one called Clipper Chip, have been criticized by civil libertarians and have received little support in Congress.
In a snub of the administration, more than 250 members of Congress have co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit the government from mandating "back doors" into computer systems.
"We want to help law enforcement deal with the new technologies. But we want to do it in ways that protect the privacy rights of law-abiding citizens," said Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.), who originally sponsored the legislation, known as the Security and Freedom Through Encryption Act. Goodlatte said the Justice Department's proposal might upset the "very finely tuned balance" between law enforcement power and civil liberties.
But Justice Department officials say there is an increasingly urgent need for FBI agents and other federal investigators to get around encryption and other security programs.
"We've already begun to encounter [encryption's] harmful effects," said Justice spokeswoman Gretchen Michael. "What we've seen to date is just the tip of the iceberg."
The proposed law also would clarify how state and federal authorities can seek court orders to obtain software encryption "keys" that suspects might give to others for safekeeping. Although few people share such keys now, officials anticipate that they will do so more often in the future.
Administration officials played down the potential impact on civil liberties. In interviews, two officials said the law would actually bolster privacy protections by spelling out the requirements for court oversight of cyber-surveillance and the limits on how information obtained in a search could be used.
"The administration is supportive of encryption. Encryption is a way to provide privacy, but it has to be implemented in a way that's consistent with other values, such as law enforcement," said Peter P. Swire, the chief White House counselor for privacy. "In this whole debate, we have to strike the right balance."
Computer specialists predict that people under investigation will take countermeasures.
"It's 'Spy vs. Spy,' " said Lance Hoffman, director of the Cyberspace Policy Institute at George Washington University, who praised the administration for raising the issue but expressed skepticism about the proposal as it was described to him.
"I'd be leery if I were the government. . . . They have to be real careful," he said.
© 1999 The Washington Post Company
August 20, 1999
Filed at 12:13 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration reportedly plans to ask Congress to give police authority to secretly go into people's personal computers and crack their security codes.
Legislation drafted by the Justice Department would let investigators get a sealed warrant from a judge to enter private property, search through computers for passwords and override encryption programs, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The newspaper quoted an Aug. 4 department memo that said encryption software for scrambling computer files ``is increasingly used as a means to facilitate criminal activity, such as drug trafficking, terrorism, white-collar crime and the distribution of child pornography.''
Under the measure, investigators would obtain sealed search warrants signed by a judge as a prelude to getting further court permission to wiretap, extract information from computers or conduct further searches.
Privacy advocates have objected to the plan, dubbed the Cyberspace Electronic Security Act by the Justice Department.
``They have taken the cyberspace issues and are using it as justification for invading the home,'' James Dempsey, an attorney for the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the Post.
Peter Swire, the White House's chief counselor for privacy, told the newspaper the administration supports encryption as a way to provide privacy for computer users.
``But it has to be implemented in a way that's consistent with other values, such as law enforcement,'' Swire said. ``In this whole issue we have to strike the right balance.''
The administration has for years been seeking a law to require computer makers to include a so-called Clipper Chip in their products that would give police a ``back door'' into computers despite any encryption software they may contain.
In a backlash, More than 250 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors to legislation that would prohibit mandating such back-door devices on computers.
TT WK.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990820/ts/technology_covert_2.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) [8.20.99] - The Justice Department is seeking new powers to break into private premises and disable security precautions on personal computers as a prelude to a wiretap or further search, the Washington Post reported Friday.
The department wanted to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to get search warrants that would let them monitor suspects' computerized records after break-ins, said the paper, citing documents and interviews with Clinton administration officials.
``In a request set to go to Capitol Hill, Justice officials will ask lawmakers to authorize covert action in response to the growing use of software programs that encrypt, or scramble, computer files,'' the report said. Such encryption makes computers inaccessible to anyone who lacks a special code or ''key.''
Justice officials worry that such software ``is increasingly used as a means to facilitate criminal activity, such as drug trafficking, terrorism, white-collar crime and the distribution of child pornography,'' the Post quoted an Aug. 4 memo by the department as saying.
Under the proposed ``Cyberspace Electronic Security Act,'' investigators armed with a sealed warrant could comb computers for passwords and install devices that override encryption programs, the Post reported, citing the Justice memo.
To pull information from a targeted computer, agents would still be required to get additional authorization from a court, the paper said.
Justice officials were not immediately available for comment. The proposal is the latest in a years-long tug-of-war between the government and computer users who want to protect their privacy by encrypting documents.
While Justice officials said their plan was consistent with constitutional principles, the idea alarmed civil libertarians and privacy advocates.
``They have taken the cyberspace issue and are using it as justification for invading the home,'' said Jack Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group in Washington that tracks privacy issues.
David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said in an e-mail early Friday that the proposal ``strikes at the heart of the Bill of Rights.''
Surreptitious physical entries are relatively rare under existing surveillance laws. Such entries are made only to install hidden microphones, an investigative technique approved only 50 times by federal and state judges last year.
According to Sobel, ``extending this extraordinary power to cases involving computer files would make police break-ins far more common than they are today.''
The proposal followed unsuccessful efforts by FBI Director Louis Freeh and other Justice officials to secure laws requiring built-in ``back doors'' so investigators could pierce powerful encryption programs said to be a boon to criminals.
From: Adam Powell <apowell@freedomforum.org> To: "'politech@vorlon.mit.edu'" <politech@vorlon.mit.edu> Subject: FW: FC: Paging Mr. Liddy! Janet Reno wants you Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 09:19:27 -0400 Excellent point: if they are doing their jobs, you never know you were hit... -----Original Message----- From: Jim Dempsey [mailto:jdempsey@cdt.org] Sent: Friday, August 20, 1999 9:06 AM To: declan@well.com Cc: apowell@freedomforum.org Subject: Re: FC: Paging Mr. Liddy! Janet Reno wants you Adam, The text of the secret searches bill, DOJ's section-by-section analysis, and a draft letter of transmittal to Congress are online at http://www.cdt.org/crypto/CESA Small point in the broader scheme of things, but I assume the black bag experts would do a good enough job so that you would NOT know they had been there when you tried to use your crypto (or a mere password). The whole point is to keep you typing unaware that your security has been compromised. >In a page-one exclusive, the Washington Post reports The Clinton >administration is asking Congress for explicit authority for secret >break-ins onto private property to lift and change computer encryption >files. Under the proposed legislation, the US would approach a friendly >judge, get a search warrant and then seal it, so you will have no notice: >You won't know the J-folks were there until you tried to use your crypto >software... > >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/aug99/encryption20.htm > > "The Justice Department wants to make it easier for law >enforcement Jim Dempsey Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 I Street, NW Suite 1100 Washington DC, 20006 voice: 202.637.9800 fax: 202.637.0968 jdempsey@cdt.org * WORKING FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN A DIGITAL AGE * Protecting Free Speech and Privacy on the Internet http://www.cdt.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to majordomo@vorlon.mit.edu with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------