If you look with a suspicious eye at new technology, wondering whether that new phone or gadget has the potential to intrude on your privacy, you’re not alone. According to this 84 page FBI Tech Newsletter, the Bureau has been paying attention to emerging computer and telecommunications technologies and assessing them to determine whether they present a threat or an enhancement to the government’s ability to conduct surveillance. One example, though not surprising to us:
Tunnels within a network increase the complexity of lawful intercept (LI) solutions. Challenges imposed by tunneling may include difficulty in identifying the traffic of a particular user (e.g., deep packet inspection may be needed), accessing the content of a tunnel at its end-points, and the use of encryption within tunnels.
On page 83, they even mention the Ubertooth One open source Bluetooth monitoring tool! (If you’re so motivated, check out the redactions throughout this doc and try to guess what remains so secret.)
This FBI doc was published in March, 2011, and recently released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Federation of American Scientists. It provides an interesting roundup of current and emerging technologies while reminding us that every technological advancement can be a two-edged sword in regard to privacy.
Via Wired.
great find