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FBI: Technical Glitch in Email Tapping Hampered Bin Laden Investigation

Calendar May 30, 2002 • User Avatar Anthony Pell
1 min read
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Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

investigation privacy concern Carnivore system FBI system technical issue email tapping privacy watchdog
A technical glitch in the FBI system for tapping e-mail hampered an investigation apparently linked to Osama bin Laden and raises privacy concerns, a privacy watchdog group said yesterday. The Carnivore system was supposed to capture e-mail from the target . . . A technical glitch in the FBI system for tapping e-mail hampered an investigation apparently linked to Osama bin Laden and raises privacy concerns, a privacy watchdog group said yesterday. The Carnivore system was supposed to capture e-mail from the target of the investigation, but it also saved messages from other individuals, according to an FBI memo made public by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington, which obtained the memo under the Freedom of Information Act.

"The software was turned on and did not work correctly," the memo, dated April 5, 2000, said. An "FBI technical person was apparently so upset that he destroyed all" saved e-mail messages, including the ones related to the investigation, according to the memo.

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