FBI wants two year retention for ISP data
Since 1986 U.S. phone companies have been obliged to keep records of who makes calls, who they call, when they call, and how long the call lasts; Now, the Feds want to include Web activity tools; it is not clear is whether the FBI means which Web sites are visited or the specific URLs
FBI director Robert Mueller is still keen to get U.S. internet service providers to keep their customers’ Web logs for up to two years. John Oates writes that what is not clear is whether the director is talking about which Web sites are visited or the specific URL — which would require deep packet inspection and probably break U.S.< wiretap laws.
Greg Motta, head of the FBI digital evidence section, said his director wanted “origin and destination information for non-content data”, according to CNet.. Motta said the Feds simply want to keep powers they already have — since 1986 phone companies have been obliged to keep records of who makes calls, who they call, when they call, and how long the call lasts. It is just that now, the Feds want explicitly to include Web activity as well. He said the FBI did not want to store the actual content of calls or e-mails.
Motta was speaking to the Online Safety and Technology Working Group.
It is not clear exactly what the Feds want; logging IP numbers or Web hosts would be relatively simple for an ISP, while keeping track of exact URLs would be harder and more expensive.
The proposals will sound familiar to anyone familiar with the U.K.’s Communications Capabilities Directorate — responsible for what was formerly known as the interception modernization program. Oates notes that the U.K. approach has also sought to preserve existing spying powers by extending them to cover any new communications capability that comes onto the market.
