In one of its final acts of 2005, Congress was expected to renew
the Patriot Act, the law passed after 9/11 that gave the government
more leeway to investigate terrorism-related cases. Key provisions
of the law allowing the government to seize electronic records
expired Dec. 31.
The renewal without significant changes has come amid controversy
triggered by the revelation last fall that the FBI may have
illegally obtained customer data from businesses.
Between 2002 and 2004, FBI agents took procedural shortcuts at
least a dozen times when they used provisions of the Patriot Act,
according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a
nonprofit research organization. EPIC obtained the U.S. Federal
Bureau of Investigation documents through a Freedom of Information
Act lawsuit.
The documents detail 13 FBI internal investigations into agent
misconduct. According to the documents, in one terrorism-related
investigation, an agent obtained financial information from a
company without legally obtaining a National Security Letter, a
mechanism by which investigators demand data from companies or
individuals. (Recipients of National Security Letters are forbidden
by law to tell anyone that they have received one.)
The Washington Post reported last year that the FBI issues more
than 30,000 National Security Letters a year.
The FBI called the violations administrative errors. Regardless of
the reason, the bureau's shortcuts highlight the need for companies
that share customer information with investigators to do so
cautiously, says Marcia Hofmann, EPIC staff counsel. (For more on
how to manage FBI requests, read "What to Do When Uncle Sam Wants
Your Data." Find the link to this story at
www.cio.com/010106.)
The violations indicate that legislative oversight is necessary to
minimize abuse, Hofmann says."When a law isn't functioning,
Congress needs to amend it, " she says. The Patriot Act most likely
will continue to be controversial, with proponents arguing that it
is needed to fight terrorism, while critics contend that the loss
of civil liberties is too high a price. At press time, Congress was
trying to reach a compromise on restricting the use of National
Security Letters and trying to agree on appropriate levels of
oversight for the practice.
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