[DWPittelli]

I agree with you that it's important that "probable cause" be demonstrated to a judge before obtaining a warrant -- this is the very essence of the 4th Amendment.

But your fear that the provision allowing authorities not to inform the subject of a warrant will lead to "midnight knock" shootings makes little sense to me. Under previous law there was no requirement to tell a warrant subject ahead of time of the search, for obvious reasons. The absence of an after-the-fact notification can't lead to increased conflict during a search. Further, wiretaps have always, of course, been done secretly.

All that said, USA PATRIOT's Section 216 language, that the attorney for the Government merely has to have "certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation" seems dangerous as it does not seem to require "probable cause," or convincing the judge of any actual merit to the attorney's claim.

I'd be interested if you know of any detailed analysis of this apparently dangerous language.

[KDD]

Under the new Patriot Act, the FBI's powers have been greatly expanded. First, warrants can be obtained under FISA if intelligence gathering is only a "significant purpose," rather than the "primary purpose." Because of this change, as long as intelligence gathering is a "significant purpose" of the warrant, evidence gathered by what could otherwise be unconstitutional methods might be used for a criminal investigation. Second, the Patriot Act specifically lowers the threshold for obtaining a full collection warrant for Internet traffic. Instead of needing probable cause as required by Title III, the FBI now only needs to show that the information to be gathered is "relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation." That is a much lower standard than showing probable cause that a crime has been committed. The third major change is that when a wiretap warrant is issued, the person whose communications are being captured is notified, though sometimes this notification is allowed to be after the fact. The Patriot Act now allows nearly any search to be made in secret. Finally, these changes made by the Patriot Act are not limited to surveillance of suspected terrorists, but apply to all surveillance cases.

So, the bottom line is that the FBI can now get a warrant to capture all your Internet communications by showing that your communications might be relevant to their investigation of a case. It does not have to be a case that directly involves you, nor do they need to show probable cause that you have committed any crime. The data would be collected using the Carnivore tool, a tool that has no accountability. Should you be concerned about possible misuse of this technology? That's up to you to decide.

Executive Security Briefing

Here is one.

[KDD]

And of course there is the A.C.L.U.

[KDD]

The U.S. Constitution requires not only probable cause to search, but that you be notified of the search. This law- Section 213 of the Patriot Act -- circumvents the notice requirement of the 4th Amendment.