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White House proposal would ease FBI access to Internet activity |
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Domestic
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The Obama administration is trying to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over internet records without a court order. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail, the times and dates e-mail was sent and received and possibly a user's browser history. Industry lawyers and privacy advocates see the move as an expansion of the power the government wields through so-called national security letters. These missives require the recipient to provide the requested information and to keep the request secret. Administration officials said the proposal was prompted by a desire to overcome resistance from Internet and other companies that the existing statute did not allow them to provide such data without a court order. Critics say the move is another example of an administration retreating from campaign pledges to enhance civil liberties in relation to national security.
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