Elizabeth Hicks
05 April 2005
Carnivore is Chewing Away Our Personal Freedom
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is using terrorists and terrorism to increase their legal abilities to invade the privacy of American citizens. The government has the right, under the patriot act, to do whatever they deem necessary if they believe that you are a terrorist. The Carnivore system allows the FBI to intercept and review selected e-mail messages.
A person's right to privacy and the right to not be unreasonably searched are very important to the survival of this country. If we give up these rights, we will be following in the footsteps of China. We are a Democracy; however, with laws that enable the government to use systems such as Carnivore, we are slowing becoming Communists. Maybe some of you are thinking, "Well, Communism doesn't seem so bad." Well, then you can move to a Communist country and live your life having no rights.
As for me, I would like to live in an America where my individual rights are put before the dire need to pay back the terrorists. But – my phones can now be tapped without a search warrant and I can be arrested and held without a trial. Is this the America that was declared so long ago? The Carnivore system and any other system like it need to be banned from use. The government has no right to pry into my private e-mail, in the name of terrorism or not!
According to an article written by Ann Harrison of Computerworld.com, the ACLU wanted
“Congress to update federal privacy laws to ban what it says is
the potential large-scale scanning and analysis of e-mail messages by the FBI's
Carnivore e-mail interception program.” The ACLU also believes that the ISPs
should be responsible for projecting the right of the users: “The ACLU says
Internet service providers should bear the burden of protecting the privacy of
their users and that they are in a better position to prevent electronic
dragnets that could violate the privacy of innocent citizens.”
The FBI states that there are penalties for improperly using the
Carnivore system, including the exclusion of evidence. However, there is no one
watching over the FBI and its conduct in regards to Carnivore. The FBI is on the
honor system, and many people do not believe the FBI is trustworthy.
As a society, we need to decide if the individual’s rights are
going to be overlooked in the name of terrorism. Is catching the bad guy worth
loosing your personal freedoms? I don’t think so.
“ACLU calls for limits on FBI's Carnivore system.” Computerworld.com. 22 April 2005.
<http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/story/0,10801,47153,00.html>