The Fourth Amendment is Going Dark � Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

21.2.11

The Fourth Amendment is Going Dark � Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union: "Expanding CALEA would force companies to re-engineer all of their communications software to have a surveillance back door that could be easily accessed by law enforcement. This back door would apply to every form of peer-to-peer communication; from email, to social networking, to video games. The government would have to get a search warrant to utilize the back door, but imagine a world where the government required every home to be built with cameras and microphones pre-installed. Even knowing they could only be 'tapped' after probable cause was established, how comfortable would you be?

Then there is the message this would send to the rest of the world. If this comes to pass, other governments — including repressive regimes like China and Iran — could follow suit, justifiably claiming they were just following our lead. We have seen the role the Internet can play in human rights movements, such as the Green Revolution and the recent demonstrations in Egypt. These would not have been possible if the Internet did not allow for private and anonymous communication."