FBI Quietly Forms Secretive Net-Surveillance Unit

The FBI has recently formed a secretive surveillance unit with an ambitious goal: to invent technology that will let police more readily eavesdrop on Internet and wireless communications.

The establishment of the Quantico, Va.-based unit, which is also staffed by agents from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Agency, is a response to technological developments that FBI officials believe outpace law enforcement's ability to listen in on private communications.

While the FBI has been tight-lipped about the creation of its Domestic Communications Assistance Center, or DCAC -- it declined to respond to requests made two days ago about who's running it, for instance -- CNET has pieced together information about its operations through interviews and a review of internal government documents.

DCAC's mandate is broad, covering everything from trying to intercept and decode Skype conversations to building custom wiretap hardware or analyzing the gigabytes of data that a wireless provider or social network might turn over in response to a court order. It's also designed to serve as a kind of surveillance help desk for state, local, and other federal police.

The center represents the technological component of the bureau's "Going Dark" Internet wiretapping push, which was allocated $54 million by a Senate committee last month. The legal component is no less important: as CNET reported on May 4, the FBI wants Internet companies not to oppose a proposed law that would require social-networks and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

During an appearance last year on Capitol Hill, then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni referred in passing, without elaboration, to "individually tailored" surveillance solutions and "very sophisticated criminals." Caproni said that new laws targeting social networks and voice over Internet Protocol conversations were required because "individually tailored solutions have to be the exception and not the rule."


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I already read something about it and I must admit this sounds so suspicious. This wouldn't be needed just for national security (I mean like terrorist). Incredible that the American administration can afford to 'build' thing like this.

It is acually not very strange, though. If such laws/acts, as were meant before by Paul, can pass, I don't see any reason why this couldn't go on. Probably no one is capable to stop it.

@Paul. Certainly, you think this yet another step in restricting Internet freedom (I can see that too, at least partly), but do you have any proof or evidence, that this 'division' will be busy with your communication means or that of anyone else, who shouldn't be very important to them?

If I can understand your question, for what they wrote in bills like SOPA/PIPA/ACTA/ and now CISPA, anything goes. There's no telling what they will consider what falls under that bill, but it's more for censorship than anything. I believe there's free info and evidence all over the net about some messed up things and they don't want that here.

For this arrangement in the above post, it's set up against the US citizen (< terrorists) and anyone else who would fight back against them for the rest of the crimes the 'top' are about to commit on society. This helps them stay ahead of those who want to fight back.

I see videos pulled and pages/channels shut down all the time. I'm only speaking for the US side though. Facebook is just the biggest 'gotcha' farm of all time when they can build a pattern of you and use it for whatever they feel.

They can afford it because they thrive off of taking from others everywhere.

This would acutally make sense in the modern world, people are rotten and why not online aswell. The problem is that people watch die hard 4 and want to join the fbi due to it and just masturbate to the power it gives them to eavesdrop on ppl.