Gonzales pressures ISPs on data retention

CNET posted an interesting bit of news yesterday:

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller on Friday urged telecommunications officials to record their customers’ Internet activities, CNET News.com has learned.

They already do that. How else would the ISPs be able to comply with the RIAA’s subpoenas?

In a private meeting with industry representatives, Gonzales, Mueller and other senior members of the Justice Department said Internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years, according to two sources familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Oh. I’m pretty sure they don’t do that. And I’m pretty sure it’s a horrible idea.

The closed-door meeting at the Justice Department—which Gonzales had requested, according to the sources—comes as the idea of legally mandated data retention has become popular on Capitol Hill and inside the Bush administration. Supporters of the idea say it will help prosecutions of child pornography because in many cases, logs are deleted during the routine course of business.

Scratch that. I know it’s a horrible idea. Almost any law that’s “for the children” means a rise in the government’s power, and that’s definitely not a good thing.

Once ISP data retention becomes Federal law, Washington will have at its disposal the largest database of citizen information it’s ever had. People will be afraid to say anything against those in power or go anywhere that speaks against those in power because they’ll be terrified of Washington’s trumping up charges against them and throwing them in jail—or worse, Gitmo—for the rest of their lives.

“I will reach out personally to the CEOs of the leading service providers and to other industry leaders,” Gonzales said. “Record retention by Internet service providers consistent with the legitimate privacy rights of Americans is an issue that must be addressed.”

And in other news, murderers have declared that murder consistent with the life rights of Americans is an issue that they will soon address. More at 11.

Until Gonzales’ speech, the Bush administration had generally opposed laws requiring data retention, saying it had “serious reservations” about them. But after the European Parliament last December approved such a requirement for Internet, telephone, and VoIP providers, top administration officials began talking about the practice more favorably.

The administration has taken to the bandwagon approach to prove that data retention is a good thing. “Hey, look! Europe mandates it, so we should, too!” And it’s extremely unlikely that the administration ever had “serious reservations” about mandating data retention. They warmed up to the idea rather quickly, didn’t they?

Any government that sees an opportunity to grow its power will seize that opportunity.

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