2002 UCLA J.L. & Tech. Notes 1

The USA Patriot Act May Infringe on Civil Liberties in Cyberspace
by Anne Uyeda

Last October, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, a 342-page bill targeting terrorism, into law. Although ostensibly designed in response to the events of September 11th, most of the bill's provisions actually have more of an impact on the lives of innocent Americans, rather than hostile terrorists. By endowing domestic and national law enforcement agencies with an expansive power to spy on the on-line activities of people, the government may well have sacrificed the privacy rights of individuals in its quest to protect the nation.

One of the leading civil liberties groups concerned with the repercussions of the Patriot Act is the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Launched in 1990, this so-called "American Civil Liberties Union for Nerds" is well-known for its concern with constitutional issues in cyberspace, such as First Amendment freedoms relating to encryption and code and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. According to Cindy Cohn, EFF's legal director, the passage of the Patriot Act evinces how "Americans are shouldering the burden of intelligence failures of federal authorities." On their website, the EFF presents a detailed analysis of the Patriot Act and its overreaching effects on individual rights.

As a consequence of this bill, EFF points out, the government is now permitted to spy on the web surfing of innocent Americans, including terms entered into search engines. This surveillance is easy to obtain; a law enforcement officer needs only to tell a judge anywhere in America that the spying could lead to information that is "relevant" to an ongoing criminal investigation. The person spied on does not have to be the target of an investigation. Most troublesome is the fact that the government is not obligated to report to the court, nor is it required to inform the person spied upon what it has done.

With this new law in place, many Americans should become cautious about the terms they type into their search engines. Under the Patriot Act, citizens not only risk becoming labeled as terrorists, but they also risk losing their constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of speech.

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