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Gonzales Demanding Data Retention Law
David Utter
Staff Writer
2006-09-20
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US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales cited the proliferation of child pornography as the reason Congress needs to enact legislation requiring Internet service providers to retain customer data.
 | | Gonzales Demands Data Retention Legislation |  |
A critical need to fight child pornographers should be sufficient motivation for Congress to assist federal prosecutors by passing a law requiring ISPs to keep records of their customers' travels on the Internet.
Gonzales argued before the Senate Banking Committee that the legal need for data retention by ISPs for a year or two would facilitate prosecution of criminals. An AP report noted how the Justice Department has met with a number of companies, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Comcast, and Verizon, about the issue.
Executives at those companies expressed concerns that such legislation would encroach on user privacy. Gonzales acknowledged that concern but claimed the need to fight child pornography superceded those concerns.
It has also been reported that the FBI favors the legislation as it would help with the agency's anti-terrorism efforts. AP cited a source who participated in meetings between Justice, FBI, and the Internet companies, that FBI director Robert Mueller made the case for this with those firms.
The child pornography battle has been the lead argument made by Justice for greater access to ISP records. The Department previously subpoenaed a number of companies for a broad swath of search records that they claimed would help a Pennsylvania case regarding the Constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act.
Concerns exist that the creation of these massive pools of retained data will be too tempting for federal agencies to resist. The number and type of potential scenarios for obtaining and wielding this information against citizens in ways beyond the needs to thwart child exploitation and terrorism are limited only by the imagination.
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Tag: Alberto Gonzales
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About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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