British cops want super-Carnivore

According to The Observer, Britain's MI5, MI6 and police want to archive records of all telephone calls, e-mails and Internet connections made in the country. The information would be kept on a government supercomputer "data warehouse" for seven years. The Home Office has, according to the story, addmitted that the plan is under consideration.

In related news, the US Department of Justice's review of the FBI's e-surveillance system is under further attack by a group of respected researchers from groups including AT&T Laboratories, SRI International, Purdue University and the University of Pennsylvania. Among the issues raised is the lack of a mechanism that would prevent administrators from changing records of the program's use.

For more on the British story, see observer.co.uk and cryptome.org. For more on the Carnivore study, go to newsBytes.com.