FBI Gmail Spying As ‘Top Priority’ In Real Time For 2013

The FBI is to make Gmail spying a "top priority" for the agency this year.

Although with the current ECPA, law enforcement doesn't need a warrant to obtain emails, the bureau wants to spy in real-time communications.

FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann shared last week at an American Bar Association discussing that the agency is to push for the ability to spy on communications in real time. It has difficult monitoring Gmail, Google Voice and cloud storage services because of a 1994 surveillance law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. As the law only allows the government to make ISPs and telecommunications firms install surveillance equipment within their own networks.

Weismann said that Gmail and Google Voice, "communications are being used for criminal conversations," and therefore should be monitored.

Rob D'Ovidio, associate professor of criminal justice at Drexel University told CBS News, "The FBI is looking to address the 'going dark' problem.

"We know that criminal organizations are using them," D'Ovidio told the network. "Whether they're street gangs, child pornographers, or terrorist members-they're using simple video game embedded communication tools. So the FBI is just saying we need a level playing field." He said they also include Gmail and similar services.

Google issued a report earlier this month, that FBI is heavily using National Security Letters, a type of surveillance that sources information on users.

"You'll notice that we're reporting numerical ranges rather than exact numbers. This is to address concerns raised by the FBI, Justice Department and other agencies that releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations. We plan to update these figures annually," Richard Salgado, a Google legal director, wrote in a blog.