FBI ad portas
This afternoon an FBI Special Agent came to my door and showed me his badge.
I was sure that he was going to ask me about laser printer forensics, how much we know about the government's ability to track documents, why we're publishing it, who's helping us figure it out, etc.
But it turned out that the agent just wanted to interview me for a background check on one of my former neighbors who's applying for a job with a Top Secret security clearance. The agent didn't know me (or EFF) from Adam.
I have three observations about this experience.
First, I gave the agent a lot more information than I would have expected, both because he was an authority figure who took me by surprise, and because I didn't want to cause any trouble for my former neighbor's employment prospects. This despite the fact the FBI could theoretically have been investigating the neighbor himself (or one of his friends) under the guise of an employment-related background check. Law enforcement agents are often allowed to lie to people while gathering evidence.
Second, if the FBI actually wanted to interview me about something I was working on, they would probably have sent two agents, not just one -- or such is the experience of everyone I know who's been interviewed by Federal law enforcement.
Third, the interview was extremely anticlimactic. Here I am working on all of this privacy stuff and political stuff, and when a law enforcement agent actually comes to my house, he just wants to know if I think my former neighbor should get a government job.
