Appeals Court Rolls Back Computer Privacy Guidelines 88
Last year we discussed news of a court ruling that established a set of guidelines for how investigators can enact search warrants involving electronically stored data. Essentially, it required authorities to specify the data for which they were searching, and to take precautions to avoid the collection of unrelated data, whether it was incriminating or not. Now, a federal appeals court has thrown out those guidelines despite agreeing with the conclusion that investigators must only collect data specified in a warrant. Instead, the ruling (PDF) leaves us with a plea for "greater vigilance on the part of judicial officers in striking the right balance between the government’s interest in law enforcement and the right of individuals to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures."
fp? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:fp? (Score:5, Interesting)
agreed. There was a reason that the original rules were so strict. The founders could have requested that the powerful should just be nice in their handling of the masses, but they instead chose to be explicit. Sorry to the coppers if that gives them a little extra work, but it is nice to avoid a witchhunt.
Re:Not sure what the big deal is (Score:4, Interesting)
Law of Evidence (Score:1, Interesting)
The law of evidence is there for a good reason.
People have a right not to be harassed by flimsy tissue thin accusations without substance.
The reasoning for departing from same is not stated
Sure, let them say we are looking for a-z + anything else that might be incriminating - it will be overturned accordingly, remembering a-z searches has precedent saying exactly that is intolerable.
Which is why you have to write it down beforehand, and not make it up AFTER the search. Normally people who have completed primary school level education have the ability to say what they want.
If Fed's or the Police are dumber and more confused than an 11 year old - we have problems.
Overturning these laws is a dilution of natural justice and equity.
Those criminals or suspects with well heeled lawyers and deep pockets will now get off on a technicality. No matter how it is twisted 'fishing' is not allowed, and if they were not specific before the warrant was issued, then admissibility can be challenged later.
The opinion of one will be overturned on appeal , and those old pesky guidelines - well they were put in to stop automatic appeals, so I guess the court system is asking to be bogged down further.
Re:Not sure what the big deal is (Score:3, Interesting)
Dear Slashdot Community,
Please take 45 minutes minutes to watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
From the video: ... 6:45 mark.
"Did you know it could be a federal offense for being in possession of a lobster?"
And why this court ruling is significant...
Re:Encryption: just goes to show (Score:1, Interesting)
My company has a special policy for America, because of the constant laptop searches at the borders.
Employees have to take laptops with a fresh linux image mounted readonly. Then SSH to the company servers from inside. Depending on the hotel, it can be slow, but those are the rules.
No data, and definitely no encrypted images are to pass though customs.
Re:A few useful links for disk encryption (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not looking for a free ticket from the feds. I've been a victim of a burglary, one of those things where they throw all your stuff on bed sheets and drag it out. I mean, cleaned out to the walls. Once you've been through that, your attitude toward personal security and privacy changes. At minimum, if someone gets my computer, I don't want them to have access to anything on it.
If this protects me from malicious prosecution, too, then all the better.
As for the overhead, yes, it's an issue. But for normal people, computers (including the I/O) are already plenty fast to do whatever we need. For 99% of folks, the overhead would be unnoticed. I admit you have a point, though. I work in an environment where every machine has full disk encryption and I've been able to test extensively. I have found a few cases where the encryption noticeably slows a machine. But even in those cases, just spec'ing slightly zoomier hardware would have rendered the issue moot.