Abstract
Social control capabilities have increased significantly over the past several decades, particularly because of an increased utilization of technologically advanced surveillance methods. Following the tragic events of September 11,2001, U.S. Congress and the present Administration have granted law enforcement considerable new powers in the enforcement and prevention of terrorism-related crime. Collectively labeled under the heading of the so-called ‘‘war on terror’’ , the scope of such laws, policies and directives are challenged by civil rights organizations and numerous legislators for lack of definitional precision, arbitrary application of sanctions, and violation of privacy laws. One of federal law enforcement’s surveillance tools is ‘‘Project Carnivore,’’ a Justice Department Internet surveillance program that is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to access information flowing to and from a central processing unit on a network connection. While, theoretically relying on Michel Foucault’s theory of discipline and governmentality, as well as related insights in the social control literature, this paper examines Project Carnivore relative to the larger context of state rationality and related privacy issues.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
InstitutionalAuthorNameAmerican Civil Liberties Union (2002) Insatiable Appetite: The Government’s Demand for New and Unnecessary Powers After September 11. Author Washington, DC
InstitutionalAuthorNameAmerican Civil Liberties Union (2003) The ACLU in the Courts Since 9/11. Author Washington, DC
S. Baddeley (1997) Govemmentality B.D. Loader (Eds) The Governance of Cyberspace: Politics, Technology and Global Restructuring Routledge London 64–96
Birdis, T. (2001). Justice Department asks Congress to clear wide-ranging antiterrorism legislation. The Wall Street Journal (September 19), A4.
D. Black (1976) The Behavior of Law Academic Press New York
D. Black (1993) The Social Structure of Right and Wrong Academic Press New York
S. Cohen (1985) Visions of Social Control Polity Press Cambridge
Collingwood, J.E. (2000a). Editorial Responses, 24 July. Available Online: www.fbi.gov
Collingwood, J.E. (2000b). Editorial Responses, 25 July. Available Online: www.fbi.gov
Collingwood, J.E. (2000c). Editorial Responses, 7 August. Available Online: www.fbi.gov
M. Deflem (1997) Surveillance and criminal statistics: Historical foundations of governmentality A. Sarat S. Silbey (Eds) Studies in Law, Politics and Society, Vol. 17 JAI Press Greenwich, CT 149–184
M. Deflem (Eds) (2004) Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Criminological Perspectives. Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance, Vol. 5. Elsevier Science Oxford, UK
G.S. Dunham (2002) ArticleTitleCarnivore, the FBI’s e-mail surveillance system: Devouring criminals, not privacy Federal Communications Law Journal 54 543–566
Eggen, D. (2002a). Carnivore glitches blamed for FBI woes. Washington Post (May 29), A7.
Eggen, D. (2002b). FBI misused wiretaps, according to memo. Washington Post (October 10), A14.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (2000). “The Fourth Amendment and Carnivore.’’ Statement of The Electronic Frontier Foundation Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary. United States House of Representatives, July 28, 2000. Available Online: www.eef.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation (2003). “Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism’’. Available Online: www.eef.org
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000a). “Congressional Statement on Carnivore Diagnostic Tool, 7/24/00’’. Available online: www.fbi.gov
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000b). “Congressional Statement on Carnivore Diagnostic Tool, 9/6/00’’. Available online: www.fbi.gov
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2003). “Carnivore Diagnostic Tool’’. Available online: www.fbi.gov
M. Foucault (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Vintage Books New York
M. Foucault (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977 Pantheon Books New York
M. Foucault (1981) ‘Omnes et Singulatim’. Towards a criticism of ‘Political reason’ S. M. McMurrin (Eds) The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Vol. 2. University of Utah Press Salt Lake City 223–254
M. Foucault (1991) Governmentality G. Burchell C. Gordon P. Miller (Eds) The Foucault Effect University of Chicago Press Chicago 87–104
D. Garland (1997) ArticleTitle‘Governmentality’ and the problem of crime: Foucault, criminology, sociology Theoretical Criminology 1 IssueID2 173–214
J. Gilman (2001) ArticleTitleCarnivore: The uneasy relationship between the Fourth Amendment and electronic surveillance of internet communications CommLaw Conspectus 9 111–129
G. Gooldstein C.H. Orr (2003) ArticleTitleApplication of the U.S.A. Patriot Act to criminal investigations violates the First and Fourth Amendments. Texas Bar Journal 66 IssueID2 40–52
C. Gordon (1991) Governmental rationality: An introduction G. Burchell C. Gordon P. Miller (Eds) The Foucault Effect University of Chicago Press Chicago 1–51
Gugliotta, G. and Krim, J. (2001). Push for increased surveillance worries some. Washington Post (September 25), A4.
T.C. Haas (2001) ArticleTitleCarnivore and the Fourth Amendment Connecticut Law Review 34 261–291
P.K. Holmes (2001) ArticleTitleFBI’s Carnivore: Is the government eating away our right of privacy Roger Williams University Law Review 7 247–272
InstitutionalAuthorNameIIT Research Institute (2000) Evaluation of Carnivore Diagnostic Tool Author Chicago
Jackman, T. (2003). Judges uphold US detention of Hamdi. Washington Post (January 9), AI.
C.S. Lerner (2003) ArticleTitleThe reasonableness of probable cause Texas Law Review 81 IssueID4 951–1029
G.T. Marx (1988) Undercover: Police Surveillance in America. University of California Press Berkeley, CA
G.T. Marx (1998) ArticleTitleAn ethics for the new surveillance The Information Society 14 IssueID3 171–185
G.T. Marx (1999) Measuring everything that moves: The new surveillance at work I. Simpson R. Simpson (Eds) The Workplace and Deviance. Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 8. JAI Greenwich, CT 165–189
G.T. Marx (2002) Technology and social control N. Smelser P. Baltes (Eds) International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Pergamon Oxford, UK 15506–15511
S.R. Merl (2001) ArticleTitleInternet communication standards for the 21st century: International terrorism must force the U.S. to adopt ‘Carnivore’ and new electronic surveillance standards. Brooklyn Journal of International Law 27 245–284
R.K. Merton (1936) ArticleTitleThe unanticipated consequences of purposive social action American Sociological Review 1 IssueID6 894–904
O’Harrow, R. (2001). FBI’s Carnivore might target wireless text. Washington Post (August 24), E1.
Rosen, J. (2002). Liberty wins: So far Bush runs into checks and balances in demanding new powers. Washington Post (September 15), Bl.
Scheeres, J. (2001). “Suppression Stifles Some Sites’’. Available online: www.wired.com.
J. Stanley B. Steinhardt (2003) Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society ACLU New York
StopCarnivoreNow (2003). “The Backdoor, the Rogue Agent, and the Mishap: The Hidden Dangers of Carnivore’’. Available online: www.stopcarnivore.org
A.Y. Strauss (2002) ArticleTitleA constitutional crisis in the digital age: Why the FBI’s ‘Carnivore’ does not defy the Fourth Amendment Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal 20 231–258
S. W. Tountas (2003) ArticleTitleCarnivore: Is the regulation of wireless technology a legally viable option to curtail the growth of cybercrime Washington University Journal of Law and Policy 11 351–377
Tyson, J. (2003) “How Carnivore Works’’. Available online: www.howthingswork.com United States v. Katz (1967). 389 U.S. 347.
Vlahos, KB. (2001). “FBI Seeking to Wiretap Internet’’. Available online: www.foxnews.com
M.P. Voors (2003) ArticleTitleEncryption regulation in the wake of September 11, 2001: Must we protect national security at the expense of the economy Federal Communications Law Journal 55 IssueID22 331–350
R. Walters (2003) ArticleTitleNew modes of governance and the commodification of criminological knowledge Social and Legal Studies 12 IssueID1 5–26
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ventura, H.E., Miller, J.M. & Deflem, M. Governmentality and the War on Terror: FBI Project Carnivore and the Diffusion of Disciplinary Power. Crit Crim 13, 55–70 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-004-6167-6
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-004-6167-6