http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38207,00.html Lieberman's Privacy 'Tap' Dance by Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com) 7:53 a.m. Aug. 15, 2000 PDT The Democratic Party platform that delegates will adopt this week embraces personal privacy despite the checkered voting record of their vice presidential candidate. During his 12 years in the Senate, Connecticut's Joseph Lieberman has supported regulations on medical data collection while at the same time championing expanded surveillance powers for law enforcement. In 1995, for instance, Lieberman began a campaign to let police perform short-term warrantless wiretaps in some cases that involved potential "violent acts." He attempted to offer his warrantless-wiretap amendment to an anti-terrorism bill being considered by the Senate in response to the Oklahoma City bombing. "I can imagine a number of situations where the power granted by (this amendment) would provide exactly the kinds of tools that could make a difference in stopping terrorists before they strike," Lieberman said in a floor speech at the time. He called "electronic surveillance, particularly in this high-technology communication age" one of the most powerful tools police have against criminals. That anti-privacy stance seems to conflict with the strong language in the 2000 Democratic Party platform, which talks of the "right to choose whether personal information is disclosed; the right to know how, when, and how much of that information is being used; the right to see it yourself; and the right to know if it is accurate." During this election season, electronic privacy concerns have reached an all-time high, fueled by concerns about systems such as Echelon and Carnivore. In July, the European Parliament appointed a committee to investigate Echelon, and last week Attorney General Janet Reno said she would ask an unnamed university to audit the FBI's Carnivore software. "One has to question where Lieberman stands on privacy," says Sonia Arrison, director of technology policy at the free-market Pacific Research Institute. "On the one hand, it's terrifying to think that a potential vice president would support wiretapping without a warrant, but on the other hand he's been eager to enforce privacy policies on government websites. I think he needs to come clean on this issue." A spokesman for Lieberman who asked not to be identified by name defended the Connecticut Democrat's record: "He has a pro-Internet agenda. And he is concerned and attentive to the privacy of Internet users." To be sure, Lieberman has taken stands that drew praise from civil libertarians. Months before he became Vice President Al Gore's running mate, Lieberman requested that auditors at the General Accounting Office investigate whether or not federal agencies are complying with government-wide privacy standards. A recent investigation by Wired News showed that many federal websites are violating White House rules about using cookies. Months before he became Vice President Al Gore's running mate, Lieberman requested that auditors at the General Accounting Office investigate whether or not federal agencies are complying with government-wide privacy standards. A recent investigation by Wired News showed that many federal websites are violating White House rules about using cookies. Lieberman also co-sponsored a medical-reform bill that required companies participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to report additional information to the federal government. Data submitted are supposed to remain confidential. But Lieberman, the former attorney general of Connecticut, frequently appears to agree with law enforcement and national security officials when they argue for more eavesdropping abilities. One criticism of Lieberman's warrantless-wiretapping plan came from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chair of the Judiciary committee. Hatch opposed the amendment, saying it would define activist groups as potential "terrorists" and permit police to conduct surveillance without a judge's approval. Hatch, a conservative Mormon, said groups like ACT-UP and environmental activists could be targeted under Lieberman's plan. "This amendment could thus permit the government to listen to the conversations of such groups without obtaining a court order. ... I am concerned that this provision, if enacted, would unnecessarily broaden emergency wiretap authority," Hatch said. Lieberman's spokesman said the purpose of the amendment was to update existing wiretap laws to cover terrorist activity, and that if a judge eventually nixed the wiretap, the information gathered could not be used in court. U.S. law had already allowed for temporary warrantless taps in other areas. The Senate defeated Lieberman's amendment 52 to 28 by tabling it, but a related amendment he offered at the same time became law. The law grants more wiretap powers to police by allowing cops to use "roving" wiretaps on multiple phone lines that a suspected terrorist might use. Previously, government agents could tap any phone line a suspect used, if they told a judge the person was trying to evade surveillance. With Lieberman's amendment, police no longer have to demonstrate a terrorism suspect's intent. The Senate approved it by a 77 to 19 vote. In June 1998, Lieberman signaled that he was worried about encryption products that can be used to protect privacy by scrambling communications. After CIA Director George Tenet briefed the Senate committee on government affairs about the threat of "information warfare" and unbreakable crypto, Lieberman said he was concerned about encryption products without backdoors for the police. Presumably he is concerned with Web browsers and plugins like PGP. Tenet had warned the panel that terrorists can use unbreakable crypto to thwart surveillance: "Let's assume for a minute (an agent) gets access to the communications," Tenet said, "but he can't access the contents of those communications because they are encrypted, the building blows up, thousands of people are killed, and he has no guaranteed to access." A few minutes later, Lieberman seemed to agree that some form of key escrow should be required: "Where (law enforcement) has had access to the telecommunications and it's been very important to breaking a case -- been particularly important with -- in terrorism cases, because prior knowledge is so critical. So you've got to have a prevention here." He also said he was worried about terrorists conducting information warfare from overseas: "You're right. Right now, the -- what you've described today is serious, so serious and such a real threat -- again, I don't -- we're not here to panic people, but this is real. And it's a whole new order of security threat. And we ought to be able -- we ought to figure out how to get together and defend against it." This in part echoes what Gore once said about encryption. In a 1994 statement, the vice president praised the controversial Clipper chip, which would provide backdoors for government surveillance. "Our policy is designed to provide better encryption to individuals and businesses while ensuring that the needs of law enforcement and national security are met," Gore said at the time. Later he worked with industry to relax, although not remove, encryption regulations. ###