Microsoft, AOL, Google Asked by US to Keep Internet Records
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- Date: 1 Jun 2006 10:51:04 -0700
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including Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and AOL to preserve records of
customers' Web activity to aid terrorism and child pornography
investigations.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller made
the request last week at a meeting with industry executives, said Brian
Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman. More talks are scheduled
for today and tomorrow. Also included in the discussions are
representatives from victims' rights groups, privacy advocates and law
enforcement officials, he said.
``We have begun initial discussions with Internet service providers and
others on this issue of data retention to help the department with
bolstering its investigative efforts,'' said Roehrkasse.
Gonzales is pressing Internet companies for more cooperation as the
Justice Department focuses on terrorism and child pornography cases.
The move has prompted complaints from privacy advocates and led to a
clash earlier this year with Google, the word's largest search engine.
The agency has asked Internet companies to retain records such as lists
of e-mails sent and received or information on Web searches.
Authorities wouldn't ask the companies to keep the content of e-mails
and would use standard legal channels, such as seeking a subpoena,
before obtaining information, Roehrkasse said.
The Justice Department has no legal authority to require companies to
keep data on their customers and would need to ask Congress for that
ability, Roehrkasse said. He said there has been no decision on how
long companies would need to store the records.
Retaining Records
New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 2 U.S. telephone
company, and Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable
provider, were among the companies at last week's meeting, Roehrkasse
said. AOL is the Internet unit of New York-based Time Warner Inc., the
world's largest media company.
Gonzales said in April that Internet service providers had hurt child
pornography probes by not keeping data long enough. He said he would
personally reach out to chief executive officers of leading providers
to resolve the problem.
``The investigation and prosecution of child predators depends
critically on the availability of evidence that is often in the hands
of Internet service providers,'' Gonzales said in a April 20 speech at
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria,
Virginia. ``This evidence will be available for us to use only if the
providers retain the records for a reasonable amount of time.''
Privacy Concerns
Earlier this year, the Justice Department sparred with Google over a
request for information on its customer searches. In March, a federal
judge ordered the Mountain View, California-based company to turn over
some of the records demanded by the government.
Google initially had refused to give the government the information
citing privacy concerns. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, AOL and
Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo! Inc. cooperated with the Justice
Department. Yahoo is the most-visited U.S. Web site. Microsoft, the
world's biggest software company, owns the MSN Internet service.
``We strongly support Attorney General Gonzales' interest in assuring
that the Internet is safe for everyone, especially children and
families,'' Phil Reitinger, senior security strategist for Microsoft,
said in an e-mailed statement. ``But data retention is a complicated
issue with implications not only for efforts to combat child
pornography but also for security, privacy, safety, and availability of
low-cost or free Internet services.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Last Updated: June 1, 2006 12:55 EDT
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