The Act aims “to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United
States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement
investigatory tools, and for other purposes.” Senator Feingold
voiced fears that the more controversial aspects of the bill would
impact on the privacy of US citizens: “each of us cares as much as
anyone about the fight against terrorism, but we want to make sure
we don’t go beyond that goal and intrude on our civil
liberties.”
The provisions most likely to raise such worries include:
- Expansion of "pen register" authority to internet
communications, permitting law enforcement monitoring of "routing"
and "addressing" information upon a mere showing of "relevance" to
an investigation with virtually no judicial oversight. This new
authority will likely increase use of the FBI's Carnivore
system.
- Authorisation of "roving wiretaps" for intelligence
surveillance, allowing the issuance of "generic" court orders that
could be served on any communications facility (including
universities and public libraries) that a surveillance target might
use.
- Approval of government monitoring (without judicial
authorisation) of the communications of "computer trespassers,"
even in some circumstances where the affected user has permission
to use the computer system. Under the Act, “computer trespasser”
means a person who accesses a protected computer without
authorisation and thus has no reasonable expectation of privacy in
any communication transmitted to, through, or from the protected
computer; and does not include a person with legitimate access to
the protected computer.
- Authorisation of searches without notification to the targeted
individual ("secret searches"), in effect allowing police break-ins
to private homes and offices.
- Relaxation of existing limitations on the sharing of
surveillance and other information between law enforcement and
intelligence agencies, removing long-standing protections designed
to prevent government investigative abuses.
The House of Representatives had produced its own anti-terrorism
bill, generally regarded as a more balanced measure and called the
Patriot Act. The House bill, for instance, does not contain a
"secret search" provision. Significantly, it contained a "sunset"
clause that would terminate new surveillance authorities in two
years unless they were re-authorised by Congress. However, this
version was replaced by a later draft which comes much closer to
the Senate bill.
In the US, a bill must be passed through both the Senate and the
House of Representatives in exactly the same form in order to
become the law.
