White House Seeks to Add E-Mail to Wiretap Laws

WASHINGTON —  The White House proposed legislation Monday to update wiretapping rules so that legal protections currently applied to telephone calls are extended to electronic communication, such as e-mail.

The plan would require law enforcement officials to obtain high-level approval before applying for a court order to intercept the content of e-mail, which is in line with current rules that govern listening to phone calls.

“Basically, the same communication, if sent different ways--through a phone call or a dial-up modem--is subject to different and inconsistent privacy standards,” said White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, in announcing the proposals. “It’s time to update and harmonize our existing laws to give all forms of technology the same legislative protections as our telephone conversations.”

The wiretap proposal also addresses so-called “trap and trace” orders, which allow law enforcement officials to identify the source of a phone call or an e-mail but not its content. Under the proposal, law enforcement officials would only need one order, even to trace an e-mail or a phone call that may travel through multiple phone carriers or Internet providers.

Officials also could trace such communications without prior approval in an emergency, such as when a computer is under attack.

But for the first time, the administration is proposing that a federal or state judge independently determine whether the facts support such a trace order.

Officials were asked how those changes would impact the new “Carnivore” system, which the FBI is using to obtain e-mails of investigative subjects with a search warrant. When Carnivore is placed at an Internet service provider, it scans all incoming and outgoing e-mails for messages associated with the target of a criminal probe.

If the Carnivore system is being used to intercept the content of electronic communications, then law enforcement officials would need high-level Justice Department approval before obtaining a court order and stricter standards limiting its use would apply, Podesta said.

The FBI says the tool already is subject to intense oversight from its own internal controls, the Justice Department and the courts, with penalties for misuse of the system.

The proposed measures also would address inconsistencies in how current law applies to different networks carrying Internet traffic. For example, now that cable systems are being upgraded to offer two-way services, laws that apply to dial-up modems over phone lines should be extended to cable connections, Podesta said.