AS THE SOPHISTICATION OF WIRETAPPING TECHNOLOGY GROWS, SO TOO DO THE RISKS IT POSES TO OUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
We all know the scene: It is the basement of an apartment building and the lights are dim. The man is wearing a trench coat and a fedora pulled down low to hide his face. Between the hat and the coat we see headphones, and he appears to be listening intently to the output of a set of alligator clips attached to a phone line. He is a detective eavesdropping on a suspect's phone calls. This is wiretapping—as it was in the film noir era of 1930s Hollywood. It doesn't have much to do with modern electronic eavesdropping, which is about bits, packets, switches, and routers.
We start with an overview of the convoluted history of wiretapping, focusing on the United States, and then turn to issues of privacy and security. (more)
