Freelance journalist Michele Catalano received a friendly visit at her Long Island home from six agents from a joint terrorism task force on Wednesday morning.
She thinks it was related to her online search history, as she explained in a post on Medium:
Most of it was innocent enough. I had researched pressure cookers. My husband was looking for a backpack. And maybe in another time those two things together would have seemed innocuous, but we are in “these times” now. And in these times, when things like the Boston bombing happen, you spend a lot of time on the internet reading about it and, if you are my exceedingly curious news junkie of a twenty-year-old son, you click a lot of links when you read the myriad of stories. You might just read a CNN piece about how bomb making instructions are readily available on the internet and you will in all probability, if you are that kid, click the link provided.
Catalano says the agents proceeded to search her house and to ask her husband questions including "Do you have any bombs" "Do you own a pressure cooker?" and "Have you ever looked up how to make a pressure cooker bomb."
It seems clear that the authorities looked at her household search history, though it is not clear why they did so.
Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post notes that authorities could have targeted her household based on "information that is not Catalano’s search history — say, an anonymous tip from a jumpy neighbor."
The FBI told to the Guardian that Catalano was "visited by Nassau County police department … They were working in conjunction with Suffolk County police department."
The Nassau PD, however, denies that its officers were involved.
In a post describing the incident, Catalano writes:
Mostly I felt a great sense of anxiety. This is where we are at. Where you have no expectation of privacy. Where trying to learn how to cook some lentils could possibly land you on a watch list. Where you have to watch every little thing you do because someone else is watching every little thing you do.
Catalano says that the agents told her husband that "they do this about 100 times a week. And that 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing."
Here are her tweets:
Pro tip: don't do a search for pressure cookers right after your spouse does a search for backpacks if you don't want the FBI at your door.
— Michele Catalano (@inthefade) July 31, 2013
Seriously everyone. Be careful what you're googling. Scary experience today.
— Michele Catalano (@inthefade) July 31, 2013
Caitlin Dewey of The Washington Post notes that the visit might have been spurred by "information that is not Catalano's search history."
After the initial scare, Catalano made light of the situation.
I keep thinking those six guys from the joint terrorism task force are sitting around talking about what a mess my house is.
— Michele Catalano (@inthefade) August 1, 2013
Nevertheless, judging by the last two lines of her blog post, the circumstantial gravitas has stayed with her:
All I know is if I’m going to buy a pressure cooker in the near future, I’m not doing it online.
I’m scared. And not of the right things.
SEE ALSO: New NSA Leaks Show How Easily The Government Can See Almost Everything You Do On The Internet
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