FBI Sued For E-Mail Snooping Details

(AP)  A privacy group asked a federal judge to order the release of details concerning the government's "Carnivore" e-mail surveillance system.

The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center on Tuesday accused the FBI of not moving fast enough to act on the group's Freedom of Information Act request for the information.

EPIC asked on July 12 that the information, including the inner workings of Carnivore, be fast-tracked through a portion of FOIA that allows for "expedited processing," a 10-day time limit for responding to requests. The Justice Department has not responded, EPIC said.

"If there was ever a request that qualified for expedited treatment, this is it," said EPIC general counsel David L. Sobel. "It's hard to believe that the Justice Department is unable to recognize the high level of public concern that Carnivore has generated."

On July 14, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a similar request to the FBI for Carnivore's details.

An FBI spokesman contacted Tuesday had not yet heard of EPIC's request for judicial action and could not comment. But at a congressional hearing last month, FBI officials objected to the idea of making Carnivore public on grounds it would allow people to undermine the system.

Two lawmakers have since introduced bills aimed at FBI surveillance of e-mail and telephone wiretaps.

Carnivore is the term used for the entire system, a computer running the Microsoft Windows NT operating system and software that scans and captures "packets," the standard unit of Internet traffic, as they travel through an internet service provider's network. The FBI can install a Carnivore unit at an ISP's network station and configure it to capture only e-mail going to or from the person under investigation.

At the hearing last month, FBI officials said Carnivore has been used 25 times, including 16 times this year. None of those cases has yet gone to trial, so the FBI has not disclosed detailed information about them.