FBI asks Google, Facebook

WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked internet companies, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, to not oppose its proposal requiring them to build backdoors for government surveillance.

FBI officials, in meetings with industry representatives, the White House and US senators, said that modern means of communication, just as the internet, has made it difficult to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities.

The FBI's proposal

The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, CALEA, which is applied only to telecommunications providers and not Web companies.

The president of Subsentio, a Colorado-based company that sells CALEA compliance products, Steve Bock said that the step would provide a 'safe harbour' for Internet companies as long as their interception techniques are good.