Electronic Communications

Privacy advocates, like the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.), have argued that Carnivore invades the privacy of Internet users because their packets of information are analyzed along with the offender's during Carnivores filtration process. The F.B.I. counters that "each packet contains very little information and the intrusion-a brief, one-second processing of data-is negligible." Moreover, the F.B.I. states that even if the government collects, stores, or analyzes a non-targeted Internet user's data, the information would be barred from use in court by the exclusionary rule.

Based on the required reading assignment for this week, address the following:

• Do you think "a brief, one-second" analysis of your Internet data packets" violates your Fourth Amendment rights? Explain your answer.
• The U.S.A. Patriot Act lowered the threshold for court approval of an electronic intercept of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism or activities supporting terrorism. Do you support the lowering of the threshold? Explain your answer.
• How are the two above scenarios different? How are they the same? Explain your answer.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s), and properly cite any references.