Court says Feds need warrants to search email
A federal appeals court on Monday issued a
landmark decision that holds that e-mail has similar constitutional privacy
protections as telephone communications.
Smiling Bob stands up for privacy!
A federal appeals court on Monday issued a landmark decision that holds that e-mail has similar constitutional privacy protections as telephone communications, meaning that federal investigators who search and seize emails without obtaining probable cause warrants will now have to do so.
The ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio upheld a lower court ruling that placed a temporary injunction on e-mail searches in a fraud investigation against Steven Warshak, who runs a supplements company best known for a male enhancement product called Enzyte. Warshak hawks Enzyte using “Smiling Bob” ads that have gained some notoriety.
There have been no previous constitutional challenges of the SCA, likely because ISPs don’t want to cause trouble and targets of investigations don’t know that their e-mail is being read. “This demonstrates the importance of judicial review,” Susan Freiwald, law professor, said. “You don’t ask an agency to set its own governing rules.”
There aren’t relevant precedents - because no one has been recording the snooping. No one has responsibility for oversight and the snoops could care less.
Posted: Wed - June 20, 2007 at 09:41 AM