# If I Use The 'B' Word On The Internet, Will The FBI Tap My Phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135 "2003-08-05T15:33:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135/41 "2003-08-06T15:47:17Z")
Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if [this MPSIMS thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=196609) raised some eyebrows at the FBI/Carnivore HQ, even if the title’s completely deceptive… When I had my old Internet Radio show, I did a block of songs dedicated to the outcome of the 2000 Election, including “Vote With A Bullet” by C.O.C. The next day, some anonymous person in IRC chat tried to talk me into installing a “kewl program I wr0te” on my computer. He was just a random script kiddie, though…I think. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135/42 "2003-08-06T20:26:32Z")
And here I thought the ‘B’ word was ‘B\*tch’ … and wouldn’t that trigger the PC Police, not the FBI? ---
**Author:** ![hybrid\_dogfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hybrid\_dogfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hybrid_dogfish)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135/43 "2003-08-06T22:13:23Z")
The real question that is relevant here is not whether the agencies can search the internet and gather inteligence about the use of certain “red flag” words, but rather the fact that once the computers have this information, it would take far too long for the data to be checked and interpretyed by human operatives. There are far better ways for the government to get this sort of information than by random internet searches, although i have no doubt that certain sites and message boards are watched extremely closely. In short, there is just too much ‘noise’ on the internet to make this sort of thing useful on a large scale. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135/44 "2003-08-06T23:04:06Z")
It’s a you-know-what! Duck and Cover™! ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135/45 "2003-08-06T23:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by D\_Odds \* > \*\*Laraby, tap **Shade** ’s phone immediately. > > No, not that kind of tap - plant a bug on it. > > What kind of a bug? An electronic one, of course. > > No, I don’t mean a lightning bug. > > I don’t care if you used to catch lightning bugs as a boy, Laraby. > > They won’t know the phone is bugged because you’re NOT putting a lightning bug in the phone. > > Just set it up to silently record all of his phone conversations, Laraby. > > I did say so in the first place. \*\* LOL! That was priceless. _Ahem_ Hi fred. Did you hear? The president’s in town! Yeah, I admire him too. [mimes barfing, laughing] A present, what a good idea. I know just the thing. [mimes gun] Right. BTW the funniest thing happened! I posted ‘bomb’ on the internet and someone said they’d tap my phone. No, I don’t think they would really. [points at phone, cups hand to ear] Exactly! What if, out of context, I’d said “Meet him outside the courthouse at 8.00. Bring the rifle.”? [significant point, and thumbs up] Hahaha. Bye. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-use-the-b-word-on-the-internet-will-the-fbi-tap-my-phone/193135.md?page=2)