You are here

FBI May Be Granted Powers To Read Emails Without A Warrant

The FBI may be granted powers to snoop on people’s emails without a warrant, allowing them to demand a person’s email data and web browsing history from service providers.  A secret provision included in the Senate’s annual intelligence authorization will expand the FBI’s already controversial national security letters. Theintercept.com reports: The FBI is currently allowed to get certain types of information with NSLs — most commonly, information about the name, address, and call data associated with a phone number or details about a bank account. Since a 2008 Justice Department legal opinion, the FBI has not been allowed to use NSLs to demand “electronic communication transactional records,” such as email subject lines and other metadata, or URLs visited. The spy bill passed the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, with the provision in it. The lone no vote came from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who wrote in a statement that one of the bill’s provisions “would allow any FBI field office to demand email records without a court order, a major expansion of federal surveillance powers.” Wyden did not disclose exactly what the provision would allow, but his spokesperson suggested it might go beyond email records to things like web-surfing histories and other information [...]