Mesogen
07-10-2007, 09:17 AM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/07/BAGMNQSJDA1.DTL
Judges OK warrantless monitoring of Web use
Privacy rules don't apply to Internet messages, court says
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Federal agents do not need a search warrant to monitor a suspect's computer use and determine the e-mail addresses and Web pages the suspect is contacting, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
In a drug case from San Diego County, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco likened computer surveillance to the "pen register" devices that officers use to pinpoint the phone numbers a suspect dials, without listening to the phone calls themselves.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of pen registers in 1979, saying callers have no right to conceal from the government the numbers they communicate electronically to the phone companies that carry their calls.
Federal law requires court approval for a pen register. But because it is not considered a search, authorities do not need a search warrant, which would require them to show that the surveillance is likely to produce evidence of a crime.
They also do not need a wiretap order, which would require them to show that less intrusive methods of surveillance have failed or would be futile.
What to think of this? Do people have a right to privacy when it comes to information about who they email or message on the internet? Should cops be able to see a log of all your web activity so long as the content of the messages are not surveilled?
The big question to me is if it violates the 4th amendment. I guess it wouldn't since the address logs are not yours, they are the ISP's.
Judges OK warrantless monitoring of Web use
Privacy rules don't apply to Internet messages, court says
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Federal agents do not need a search warrant to monitor a suspect's computer use and determine the e-mail addresses and Web pages the suspect is contacting, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
In a drug case from San Diego County, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco likened computer surveillance to the "pen register" devices that officers use to pinpoint the phone numbers a suspect dials, without listening to the phone calls themselves.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of pen registers in 1979, saying callers have no right to conceal from the government the numbers they communicate electronically to the phone companies that carry their calls.
Federal law requires court approval for a pen register. But because it is not considered a search, authorities do not need a search warrant, which would require them to show that the surveillance is likely to produce evidence of a crime.
They also do not need a wiretap order, which would require them to show that less intrusive methods of surveillance have failed or would be futile.
What to think of this? Do people have a right to privacy when it comes to information about who they email or message on the internet? Should cops be able to see a log of all your web activity so long as the content of the messages are not surveilled?
The big question to me is if it violates the 4th amendment. I guess it wouldn't since the address logs are not yours, they are the ISP's.