WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual’s Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
The administration wants to add four words — “electronic communication transactional records” — to a list of items the FBI may demand without a judge’s approval. Government lawyers say this includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user’s browser history. It does not include the content of e-mail or other Internet communication.
But what officials portray as a technical clarification strikes privacy advocates as an expansion of federal power through so-called national-security letters.
