S.
government??™s capabilities and power to monitor communications. One way in which
this is done is that the Act allows service providers to report suspicious behavior and not
risk customer litigation. Before this act was put into place, service providers were in a
sticky situation when it came to reporting possible criminal behavior or when trying to
work with law enforcement. If a law enforcement agent requested information on one
of their customers and the provider gave it to them without the customer??™s knowledge or
permission, the service provider could, in certain circumstances, be sued by the customer
for unauthorized release of private information. Now service providers can report
suspicious activities and work with law enforcement without having to tell the customer.
This and other provisions of the Patriot Act have certainly gotten many civil rights
Chapter 2: Ethical Hacking and the Legal System
39
PART I
monitors up in arms. It is another example of the difficulty in walking the fine line
between enabling law enforcement officials to gather data on the bad guys and still
allowing the good guys to maintain their right to privacy.
The reports that are given by the service providers are also exempt from the Freedom
of Information Act.
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