FBI Looks to Expand Use of Spyware
The FBI has sought approval to use their CIPAV spyware to infect suspected terrorist computers and spy on their Internet activities.A computer infected with CIPAV sends computer profile information to the FBI’s servers, and then periodically sends information about what websites are visited by that computer.
A ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that such surveillance — which does not capture the content of the communications — can be conducted without a wiretap warrant, because internet users have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” in the data when using the internet.