Abstract:

Wiretaps have been an element of U.S. law-enforcement and foreign-intelligence investigations for over a quarter century. During this period, communications technology has substantially changed. Law enforcement has sought to keep laws current with the new technology. But new technology brings new threats and it is not clear that the FBI's latest efforts to extend the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to Voice over IP would actually improve the total security equation. In this talk, we discuss national-security and law-enforcement wiretapping and the Internet, and what security means in this context.