DOJ vs. 4th Amendment

USAToday Top law enforcement officials have asked leading Internet companies to keep histories of the activities of Web users for up to two years to assist in criminal investigations of child pornography and terrorism, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller outlined their request to executives from Google, Microsoft, AOL, Comcast, Verizon and others Friday in a private meeting at the Justice Department. The department has scheduled more discussions as early as Friday. Last week's meeting was first reported by CNET, an online news service. The meetings reflect a new approach by law enforcement in anti-terrorism efforts. Previously, the Justice Department had invoked the need for data retention only to battle child pornography. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Internet traffic has become increasingly critical to terrorism investigations, too. I don't agree with this one. Forcing these companies to keep these records will create a huge expense. Also and most importantly this may violate the fourth amendment. This is an intrusion into my private affairs. Also the longer these records are kept the more likely that they will be comprisized by un-ethical individuals and or organizations. I understand that we are at war with terriorist but at the same time that doesn't mean I want to live in a police state. I didn't have a problem with the phone records but this is stretching the line a bit to thin and is putting our private lives at risk.