Phone taps by the federal government can be tougher to get. A high-ranking Justice Department official must sign off on the request before it goes to a judge. Prosecutors must show that other investigative techniques won't work, or are too dangerous. And phone taps can be done only for certain federal felonies, such as kidnapping and bribery. Safeguards on Internet snooping are like those for phones, except that any federal prosecutor, not just a high-ranking Justice Department official, can sign off on them.
Some legal experts say more safeguards are needed.
When wiretapping first appeared, a similar chaos reigned, Fishman says. It wasn't clear when or how police could seek a phone wiretap, or even whether they could use in court what they found. As the Internet goes wireless and cars add satellite tracking systems, wiretapping laws will be tested even further. The law now gives police easy access to phone logs, both incoming and outgoing. These types of requests are virtually automatic for police.