Net effect: Antiterror eavesdropping
"The trend up to September 11 was for more privacy protection, greater procedural safeguards, more sunshine on the process and more notice," said Al Gidari, a Seattle privacy lawyer who represents Internet and telecoms companies. "I now see all those things tied up in a box with a little bow on them and forgotten about in the corner," he said.
Law enforcers say they need stepped-up electronic surveillance to keep up with sophisticated criminals, stressing that such efforts are targeted -- they're not trolling every server for e-mails mentioning Osama bin Laden.
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