Mon, Jul 18, 2005
In-Flight
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are
reportedly at work to enable the tapping into and tracking
in-flight internet communications. The agencies are petitioning the
Federal Communications Commission to enable easier access to the
satellite based Internet communications on board aircraft.
Boeing first tested inflight WiFi service in 2003 aboard a
Lufthansa flight from Germany. United Airlines was the first
American carrier equipping aircraft with wireless routers, to make
them WiFi hotspots
James Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy
and Technology , a civil rights group, based in Washington DC says
the feds seek the "full ability to control all communications" on
the aircraft.
Federal law enforcement wants to be able to intercept, block, or
reroute e-mail to and from any airplane, but only after receiving a
court order, to maintain due process. The petition filed with the FCC asks that
in-flight Internet Service Providers would have to give the
government access to the system within 10 minutes of receiving a
court order.
Officials also want to be able to identify passengers not just
by the Internet Protocol address, and by their seat number.
Concerns are that terrorists could more easily use the internet to
coordinate attacks, or possibly detonate explosives previously
placed on a flight.
"The use of satellite-based communications and data services
onboard aircraft could potentially facilitate a coordinated attack
between (1) a person on the aircraft and a person on the ground,
(2) persons traveling on different aircraft, and/or (3) persons
traveling on the same aircraft located in different sections of the
cabin," says the petition.
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