Civil Liberties Groups Demand Action On DCS1000 Privacy Concerns

A coalition of civil liberties and privacy rights groups is urging Attorney General John Ashcroft to get tough on electronic privacy. In a letter to Ashcroft, the groups asked the attorney general to focus a sharp eye on issues such as . . . A coalition of civil liberties and privacy rights groups is urging Attorney General John Ashcroft to get tough on electronic privacy. In a letter to Ashcroft, the groups asked the attorney general to focus a sharp eye on issues such as law enforcement access to medical records, and on Carnivore -- the agency's e-mail monitoring tool that was recently renamed DCS1000. They also asked for updates to electronic surveillance laws.

The groups were following up on several items discussed in a meeting with the attorney general April 19, where Ashcroft indicated he planned to designate a member of his staff to deal with a range of privacy issues. The letter urges Ashcroft to put a pro-privacy stamp on Carnivore, a device that -- when attached to an Internet service providers' (ISP) network routers -- gives investigators access to all electronic communications sent over that ISP.

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