The number of court-authorized wiretaps for criminal investigations rose again in 1999, continuing a 20-year trend of increased surveillance. According to a report released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, court authorized surveillance orders were up two percent from 1998, to 1,350 in 1999.
Federal wiretaps were up again by six percent in 1999, while state wiretaps declined slightly. Since the Clinton Administration came into office in 1993, federal wiretapping has increased by 33 percent. Since 1980, the total number of wiretaps has increased by 230 percent. In 1999, not a single request for a wiretap was declined by any judge in the United States.
The new report also shows law enforcement's increased focus on the interception of cellular telephones and other new means of communications. Nearly half of all applications were for interceptions of electronic communications. However, prosecutors only reported seven requests for interception of e-mail and computer communications. Of the remaining interceptions, 31 percent were traditional wiretaps, and microphones only accounted for 4.5 percent of all installed surveillance. Ninety-four of the requests were for roving wiretaps; 50 percent of those were in New York State.
The vast majority of the wiretap orders were issued in investigations of drug offenses. More than 72 percent were listed for narcotics cases while ten percent were for racketeering and 4.5 percent for homicide and assault.
The number of days that wiretaps were in place jumped by 18 percent in 1999. Wiretaps recorded over 63,000 days of conversations of nearly 250,000 people. According to prosecutors, only 20 percent of the calls that they intercepted were actually "relevant" to a criminal investigation.
The 1999 report is available at:
http://www.uscourts.gov/wiretap99/contents.html
More information on wiretapping, including previous reports and analysis is available at:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/
EPIC Alert - Volume 7.08 - May 3, 2000
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Washington, D.C.
http://www.epic.org
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
[posted 5/26/00]
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