The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to make Facebook and other social networks easier to use for spying on suspected criminals — and it wants access ASAP.  High-ranking FBI officials and other government representatives have been meeting with Internet industry leaders to ask them not to oppose a proposed law that would give federal agencies backdoor access to social networking sites, CNET reports. The FBI’s argument? As communication has shifted more and more online, previous laws allowing wiretaps on phone lines are becoming less and less useful.  FBI lawyers have reportedly drafted a proposal that if passed into law would require social networking sites to rework their code for easier surveillance. It would also apply to instant messaging, VoIP and email providers that exceed a certain number of users.  The proposal would update the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) of 1994. That legislation originally applied to telecommunications providers, requiring them to provide back-end loopholes enabling easier access for law enforcement to spy on suspected criminals. In 2004, CALEA was expanded to include broadband networks as well.  Expanding CALEA again to apply to services such as Gmail, Skype and Facebook would help the FBI address a worry that senior bureau officials dubbed as far back as 2008 as “Going Dark.” The name encapsulates a theory that as communication technologies continue to advance FBI surveillance capability will struggle to keep pace.  Do you think social networks and other digital communication services should be required to code with FBI surveillance concerns in mind? Let us know in the comments.  Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, jaxxon
The FBI is asking the web’s big names to support what’s sure to be a controversial proposal, requiring sites to build in backdoors for government surveillance. The CNET report out Friday said the FBI is worried about “going dark.”