Carnivore is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-developed tool that enables law enforcement to monitor Internet communications. This monitoring can either be done in the context of a Title III wiretap, which grants access to the full content of a suspect’s communications but requires a judge to find probable cause, or under a pen register / trap and trace order. This order only grants access to routing information but is much easier to obtain. In early 2001, Carnivore was renamed DCS-1000 to reflect an upgrade to the system.
Law enforcement officials claim that this tool is the equivalent of Internet wiretapping. As suspects begin to use the Internet for more of their communications, it is imperative that law enforcement be able to monitor these communications under proper procedural safeguards. However, Carnivore operates in a way that can lead to increased government surveillance without increased safety.
Carnivore collects all traffic routed through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and then sorts through it looking for data. With a traditional wiretap, law enforcement notifies the phone company of a wiretap order, which is then implemented by the phone company and data is transmitted back to law enforcement. Carnivore is installed and run by the FBI at an ISP. In fact, Carnivore collects all traffic that is routed through an ISP and then uses a filter to decide what is appropriate to the investigation. It is the equivalent of giving the FBI access to all phone lines and trusting them to only take data from lines they are authorized to touch. There is little oversight to ensure that the FBI respects privacy. However, the FBI still needs to get a warrant or a court order naming specific individuals to scrutinize.
Carnivore blurs the line between Title III wiretaps and pen register authorizations. With telephone communications, this dichotomy is clear-cut – Title III investigations gain access to phone numbers and conversations; pen registers only gain access to phone numbers. With the Internet, these concepts are blurred. Does a list of visited websites constitute content information or routing information? Should authorities gain access to all email header information or just Internet routing addresses with a pen register authorization? These questions are not answered by present statute. Moreover, the FBI’s response to this problem is to gather all information and then filter out what it isn’t allowed to see. Unlike traditional wiretaps, where Title III wiretaps are instituted differently than pen register devices, Carnivore has one checkbox that toggles whether all information is archived by authorities or simply “routing” information. The potential for error or misuse is enormous.
Carnivore is unnecessary if the goal is to apply present wiretapping capability to the Internet. ISPs already have technology that can turn over information in the same way as telephone companies. ISPs can screen the information and only hand the FBI relevant data. While this doesn’t answer the question of what constitutes routing information, it is a much better solution that preserves the Fourth Amendment while giving law enforcement access to needed information.
The name of carnivore was changed to DCS100, in response to negative media coverage. In January 2005, Carnivore was abandoned by the FBI due to the availability of commercial eavesdropping software, which the FBI can use for the same tasks.
Other information on Carnivore:
CDT overview page on Carnivore
http://www.cdt.org/security/carnivore/
EPIC on Carnivore
http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/
Technical peak at Carnivore
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/carnivore.htm
Privacilla on Carnivore
http://www.privacilla.org/government/carnivore.html
