DoJ: Cyber snooping doesn't invade Fed worker privacy

An Obama administration effort to prevent cyberattacks by monitoring federal Internet traffic does not violate the privacy rights of government employees, or those with whom they communicate, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

A DoJ memo released last week said that employees have "no reasonable expectation of privacy" while using government networks, and that a government surveillance program is legal. The program, known as Einstein 2, applies to a private citizen who might send an email to a government employee. This would include communication to government and private e-mail accounts. Einstein 2 is a Department of Homeland Security program to detect harmful viruses and computer codes infiltrating government networks.

The government already is developing a more sophisticated program known as Einstein 3 that will both detect and block malicious code, and will involve placing the technology on the networks of private telecommunications companies. This program has raised the ire of civil libertarians, who fear for an invasion of personal privacy on a large scale.

For more on Einstein and privacy:
- see this Washington Post article

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