Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2503-1001719019-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Fri, 28 Sep 2001 16:19:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 17134 invoked by uid 510); 28 Sep 2001 23:17:53 -0000 Received: from n5.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.55) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 28 Sep 2001 23:17:53 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2503-1001719019-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.54] by hl.egroups.com with NNFMP; 28 Sep 2001 23:17:31 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_4_1); 28 Sep 2001 23:16:59 -0000 Received: (qmail 78448 invoked from network); 28 Sep 2001 23:16:58 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by l8.egroups.com with QMQP; 28 Sep 2001 23:16:58 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta3 with SMTP; 28 Sep 2001 23:16:58 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id QAA17664 for iwar@onelist.com; Fri, 28 Sep 2001 16:16:55 -0700 Message-Id: <200109282316.QAA17664@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 16:16:55 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Battling.Terrorism:.Trading.Digital.Privacy.for.Nothing?] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Battling Terrorism: Trading Digital Privacy for Nothing? By Robyn Weisman, www.NewsFactor.com, 9/28/2001 <a href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010928/tc/13779_1.html">http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010928/tc/13779_1.html> In the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the Pentagon (news - web sites) and the World Trade Center, many Americans have expressed support for more intrusive online security and surveillance activities, and a large number seem willing to sacrifice a measure of long-cherished civil liberties. Comments on Internet message boards support formal surveys. A typical writer said: "I can't imagine anyone having anything to fear [from] having email scanned by a computer program unless they have something to hide." Another agreed, saying: "By all means, read my e-mail and follow my every move on the Net if it means avoiding another catastrophe like the one we're reeling from." But can laws based on such sentiments, however patriotic and well-intentioned, be effective in identifying and apprehending terrorists? And would such laws erode the basic civil freedoms upon which American society is based? Trading Privacy For Nothing? On September 13th, the U.S. Senate passed the Combating Terrorism Act of 2001, which includes an amendment allowing for increased monitoring of people's activities in cyberspace, including viewing of citizens' to-from e-mail header data and tracking of visited Web sites. The government likens the principle involved in gathering this information to federal law enforcement agencies' gathering of phone numbers -- a simple process -- as opposed to the labyrinth of rules and regulations that must be followed when tapping phone conversations. But Richard Hunter, managing vice president of research firm Gartner Inc., told NewsFactor Network that citizens agreeing to such measures are "trading their privacy for nothing." The sort of thinking expressed by both the writers quoted above and by lawmakers is "based on the assumption that increased monitoring and increased technology will do the job," Hunter told NewsFactor. "They're assuming that these sorts of technology function the way a metal detector on a beach does -- that we'll sweep [the entire telecommunications and Internet systems] and manage to find all the terrorists." But it's easy for terrorists to evade such measures, now and for the foreseeable future, said Hunter. Only careless terrorists will be caught using such monitoring technologies, and terrorists are rarely careless. Backwards Evidence Gathering Hunter expressed skepticism that this sort of evidence-gathering would be an effective way to apprehend terrorists. "When police investigate a murder, they direct their investigation outward from a small group of potential culprits, versus winnowing [potential suspects] from the entire population," Hunter said. The methods championed by Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), in which investigators comb through terabytes of cyber-data in the hopes of finding the terrorist in the haystack, won't produce the desired effects, Hunter said. Moreover, he added, they may well divert attention and resources from approaches that could get better results faster. "As Americans, we tend to believe that machines and technology do a lot," said Hunter. "But they don't do everything and may be particularly ineffective against certain enemies" like the ones presently threatening the nation's safety. Private Lives, Public Information Hunter added that the new powers being authorized by Congress may do little else than turn private lives into public information. And if these powers are being invoked because the country is in a state of emergency, then people need to ask when, exactly, they will be repealed. "We could be in this state of war for generations," said Hunter, noting that after over 80 years of battling the Irish Republican Army (news - web sites), the British still contend with terrorist bombings. Said Hunter: "It's disturbing to see such enormous monitoring powers being given to the government, essentially without any limit on when these powers will be revoked. [Such laws] have the potential to put a lot of power into corrupt hands." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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