--- begin forwarded text Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 12:10:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Washington Weekly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: IP: Text of Letter from Rep. Bob Barr to Sandy Berger To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Washington Weekly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> TEXT OF LETTER FROM REP. BOB BARR TO NSC DIRECTOR SANDY BERGER Expressing Concerns About New National Surveillance System July 28, 1999 The Honorable Samuel R. Berger National Security Advisor Old Executive Office Building Washington, D.C. 20506 IN RE: Fidnet Dear Mr. Berger: According to media reports, the National Security Council is coordinating the development of a massive computer surveillance system -- Fidnet -- to monitor the electronic activities of millions of Americans. While it clearly is appropriate for the government to take steps to protect its technological infrastructure and its computers from attack, we must not allow fear of those threats to blind us to the need to balance the competing interests of privacy, cost, law enforcement, and national security. If the reported decision process on this project so far is any indication, you may not be adequately balancing these interests. For one thing, apparently input is being sought only from the law enforcement and national security communities. I am concerned the National Security Council is vastly underestimating the level of public concern about electronic privacy. The Clinton Administration has made this mistake before; proposing the much-reviled and now discredited Know Your Customer plan. Most recently, we witnessed the Administration's disdain for accountability and oversight, in its citation of a bogus attorney-client privilege to avoid giving basic information to the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee. If you intend to move forward with this plan, I request a full briefing on its structure, focusing specifically on its cost and privacy implications. I look forward to your response. With kind regards, I am, very truly yours, BOB BARR Member of Congress Published in the Aug. 2, 1999 issue of The Washington Weekly Copyright 1999 The Washington Weekly (http://www.federal.com) Reposting permitted with this message intact ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** <www.telepath.com/believer> ********************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'