FBI: Expanding Internet Snooping Powers a 'Top Priority'

Under existing law, police can access your older emails and chat records without a warrant and younger stored messages with one, but what about monitoring your real-time conversations via Google Chat or Skype? That's much more difficult — and the Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to make it easier.

The FBI has for about a decade been able to tap citizens' digital phone conversations and Internet traffic under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which originally forced phone companies and then, following later lobbying by law enforcement, Internet providers, to install equipment that lets the feds snoop on customers' phone conversations and Internet traffic if the provider is served a warrant.