All your packets are belong to U.S.

Monday, May 14th, is the day that all broadband service providers must comply with Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). What is CALEA?

In response to concerns that emerging technologies such as digital and wireless communications were making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement agencies to execute authorized surveillance, Congress enacted CALEA on October 25, 1994. CALEA was intended to preserve the ability of law enforcement agencies to conduct electronic surveillance by requiring that telecommunications carriers and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment modify and design their equipment, facilities, and services to ensure that they have the necessary surveillance capabilities.

This isn’t anything really “new”. Law enforcement has always been able to tap into the data you send/receive with a court order. What CALEA does is make it easier for law enforcement to get information about your online habits like it did with the phone system. The information collected includes email, web browsing and instant message content. This is accomplished by surveillance friendly equipment being installed at the ISP level that packages all the data in a pre-specified format.

Welcome home, citizen. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness. – Robert Frost

13.May.07 Networking, Security

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “All your packets are belong to U.S.”

fullmetalashaman | May 14th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Not really related to this entry, but I have to ask.

What on earth happened to your blog?

The other theme was very “educationallyish”. This looks one looks like something a 13 year old would use as their h@>
fullmetalashaman | May 14th, 2007 at 1:29 am
hmm, that should have read as, haxor blog theme.
wyckedone | May 14th, 2007 at 8:32 am
I was just trying out a different theme. It has been changed back to Magellan.
fullmetalashaman | May 15th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Excellent, the awesomeness is back!!oneoene
Rollie | May 17th, 2007 at 10:24 am
That passed in 1994 before the “conservative” revolution in Congress. Yet another example of how many years were potentially squandered.

Don’t get me wrong… I don’t believe in the “right” to privacy and this may be fine with me on some levels. It’s not that they couldn’t have done it anyway. I just hate when the feds make it this easy for themselves because it borders on that whole self-incrimination thing.