Listen
18:37
Wiretapping the internet?
For years, the Federal government has been able to eavesdrop on telephone calls in which criminal activity is believed to be taking place. Now, the Feds want to expand those abilities to include FaceBook, Skype and BlackBerry communications. The bill being drafted, which the Obama administration hopes to introduce next year, raises new questions about how to balance security needs, without abandoning privacy or hampering innovation. With more and more people taking their conversations online, should the FBI have greater access to what we’re writing each other?
For years, the Federal government has been able to eavesdrop on telephone calls in which criminal activity is believed to be taking place. Now, the Feds want to expand those abilities to include FaceBook, Skype and BlackBerry communications. The bill being drafted, which the Obama administration hopes to introduce next year, raises new questions about how to balance security needs, without abandoning privacy or hampering innovation. With more and more people taking their conversations online, should the FBI have greater access to what we’re writing each other?
Guest:
Charlie Savage, Washington correspondent for the New York Times covering the Justice Department and legal policy issues; author of Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency