UPDATED 11:22 EDT / OCTOBER 10 2011

Wikileaks, Secret Orders and Hidden Emails Raise Eyebrows in US, Germany

Two government sects in the US and Germany are said to be acquiring personal information with the use of secret orders and Trojans, raising questions as to whether or not thee organizations are violating the Fourth Amendment and Germany’s legal codes.

Secret Court Orders

The US government has reportedly obtained a secret court order that allows them to obtain email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum from Google and Sonic.net without the knowledge of Appelbaum.  The request includes email addresses of people Appelbaum corresponded with the past two years, though the content in those messages wasn’t included in the request.  Sonic chief executive Dane Jasper stated that they tried to contest the court order, but unfortunately lost their appeal.

WikiLeaks is very controversial organization as an international vigilanti publishing private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers.

Some are questioning whether the Electronic Communications Privacy Act violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects US citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures.  A coalition of technology companies including Google, Microsoft and AT&T, is lobbying for Congress to update the law and require the need for search warrants in digital investigations.  The coalition is backed by the ECPA’s author, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who stated that the original law is “significantly outdated and outpaced by rapid changes in technology.”

Appelbaum and two WikiLeaks supporters Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic parliament, and Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch computer programmer, jointly filed a motion to vacate the court order as they argued, among other things, that IP addresses can be used to locate a person in “specific geographic destinations,” which falls under the Fourth Amendment and requires a warrant to be obtained.  But the government argues that IP addresses don’t reveal precise location and are more akin to phone numbers.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Davis insists that “this is a standard… investigative measure that is used in criminal investigations every day of the year all over this country.”

Trojans

The Trojan Bundestrojaner, also known as ‘0zapftis’ and ‘R2D2,’ is legally used by the German government to tap Skype conversations as long as it is officially authorized for a wiretap.  But according to Chaos Computer Club, the malware can download updates from the internet, run code remotely and even allow remote access to the computer without the user’s knowledge which is prohibited by Germany’s legal code.

The CCC says that “the malware can not only siphon away intimate data but also offers a remote control or backdoor functionality for uploading and executing arbitrary other programs.  Significant design and implementation flaws make all of the functionality available to anyone on the internet.”

Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos backs the CCC’s claims by citing an instance in 2008 where “BND – Germany’s foreign intelligence service – deployed spyware to monitor the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Afghanistan.”

It’s another case that raises the public’s eyebrows as to the legalities surrounding personal data, especially when it comes to digital matters.  Government involvement always makes for curious banter, though the issues seldom seem resolved.  With the fast pace of technology’s application to the realm of communication, it’s difficult for legislation to keep up and a struggle ensues in this gap.  With Wikileaks forcing this issue as a public affair, pressure resumes amongst authorities, private and public sectors to wrap their heads around digital rights.


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