The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the number of court-authorized phone taps in the U.S. rose by 19% in 2004.

Authorities made 1710 applications for taps, and 1710 applications were approved (that’s 100%). And that figure does not include terrorism-related taps, which reached a record 1,754 last year.

From the article:

“Between 1994 and 2004, the number of wiretap authorizations have increased 48 percent, according to the report.

In 2004, New York reported 347 wiretaps, California 180, New Jersey 144, and Florida 72 authorizations.

While judges authorized more wiretaps, the average length of time in which a wiretap could occur decreased in 2004 from 44 to 43 days.”