FC: On privacy, Sen. Joseph Lieberman goes both ways

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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.

###