"Vacuum Cleaner Technique"

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Carnivore was set up to collect data which matched certain filters, whereas this new type of surveillance technology -- "vacuum cleaner method" -- collects data without the use of filters set up to target certain types of individuals or information.

“What they’re doing is even worse than Carnivore,” said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who attended the Stanford event. “What they’re doing is intercepting everyone and then choosing their targets.”