This post was published 3 years 8 months 27 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.

I earlier wrote about the Carnivore email tracking system, and many people were confused about what it is, what it does, and if their email are monitored. Thankfully ‘Carnivore’ is a decommissioned program by the FBI, however newer programs are in place that still perform the same as Carnivore, so it it important to understand what it is what what it does.

So, are your communications recorded? Yes, BUT it might not be by the government. It is common for your internet service provider (you know the folks who connect you to the internet) to capture and review all email sent and received over their connection. Also as your email travels all over the internet, handed off from network to network there is even more of a chance that your email logged and captured. These techniques are normal and most people are not even aware they exist. Matter of fact any data that is transfered over the internet applies to the same rules, AIM conversations, websites you visit, etc.

Anyway back to task. What is the ‘Carnivore’ system.

The Carnivore system is a personal computer running Windows and is equipped with a network card and “Jaz drive” for removable disk media. Since Carnivore must be physically connected to the network in order to monitor it, the computer is installed at an Internet Service Provider, a university, company, or other organization that provides internet access for monitoring. [...] All data passing the filter is written to the removable disk. Disks are collected by a FBI Special Agent coming to the site and put in a sealed box. [via]

Is this something that you should be concerned about? Yes and No. It is important to know that most communications that travel over the internet are UNENCRYPTED (Not jumbled up so anyone can read it), and that sensitive information should NEVER be sent over email, IM, chats etc. Many programs are available for free, that will secure and lock down your email and IM conversations, as well as your connection to the internet. We will be covering these technologies in the coming weeks. If you have any questions or requests, please drop us an email, and we will definitely listen.