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Justice Department Urges Internet Firms to Retain User DataIn a private May 26 meeting with leading internet companies, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller said internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years in order to aid investigations into child pornography and terrorism activities. The meeting included representatives from AOL, Comcast, Google, Microsoft, and Verizon.The Cnet online news service reported May 30 that it was not immediately clear what Gonzales and Mueller meant by network data retention, although one possibility is that companies could be required to keep track of e-mail, instant messaging traffic, and web searches. The request has raised concerns among both privacy advocates and industry executives. “The issue for us is not whether we retain data, but we want to see it done right,” U.S. Internet Industry Association President Dave McClure said in the May 31 USA Today. “Our concerns are who pays for it, what data is retained, and if it is retained legally without violating federal laws and subscriber agreements.” Both Google—which in January had resisted a DOJ subpoena of randomly selected web records held in its databases—and Microsoft sounded notes of caution about sweeping retention rules. “We are aware of a number of proposals in the U.S. and Europe regarding data retention and data preservation requirements for internet companies,” Google said in a statement quoted by USA Today. “We believe these proposals deserve careful review and must consider the legitimate interests of individual users, law enforcement agencies, and internet companies.” “In general, libraries only keep records on users to the extent required to provide their services,” said Rick Weingarten, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy, in the May 31 New York Times. “Absolutely we have concerns about users’ privacy.” Lee Tien, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told USA Today that the request amounted to the Justice Department asking internet service providers “to really become an arm of the government.” A second meeting of industry representatives at the Justice Department was scheduled to take place June 2. Posted June 2, 2006. |
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