http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cth831.htm Technology boosts government wiretaps Fax machines, cell phones, pagers and e-mail targeted By Richard Willing, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - Wiretaps ordered by federal and state authorities on cell phones, pagers, fax machines and e-mail increased by nearly 20% last year, pushing the total number of government wiretaps to a record 1,350. Traditional wiretaps, such as microphones hidden in walls and "bugs" planted on telephone lines, account for about one-third of all surveillance devices, according to an annual wiretap survey released Tuesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. <SNIP> Among the report's other findings: Wiretaps sought by state and local authorities declined by 2% last year, the first such decrease since 1995. The overall increase in wiretaps produced more arrests in 1999 but a lower conviction rate, about 15%. Five states - New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois - accounted for 81% of all state-ordered wiretaps approved last year. Fourteen of the 42 states that authorize wiretaps ordered no taps. Federal agents sought authority for seven e-mail taps last year, two more than in 1998. <SNIP> -- ----------------------Kaos-Keraunos-Kybernetos--------------------------- + ^ + :Surveillance cameras|Passwords are like underwear. You don't /|\ \|/ :aren't security. A |share them, you don't hang them on your/\|/\ <--*-->:camera won't stop a |monitor, or under your keyboard, you \/|\/ /|\ :masked killer, but |don't email them, or put them on a web \|/ + v + :will violate privacy|site, and you must change them very often. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.sunder.net ------------
