Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
  • CNET
  • All warshak posts

warshak

IRS claims it can read your e-mail without a warrant

The Internal Revenue Service doesn't believe it needs a search warrant to read your e-mail.

Newly disclosed documents prepared by IRS lawyers say that Americans enjoy "generally no privacy" in their e-mail, Facebook chats, Twitter direct messages, and similar online communications -- meaning that they can be perused without obtaining a search warrant signed by a judge.

That places the IRS at odds with a growing sentiment among many judges and legislators who believe that Americans' e-mail messages should be protected from warrantless search and seizure. They say e-mail should be protected by the same Fourth Amendment … Read more

Search warrants and online data: Getting real

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

There was good news yesterday for Internet intermediaries and other cloud-computing service providers. In a highly readable decision (PDF) from Judge Danny Boggs of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court held that key provisions of the Stored Communications Act are unconstitutional. The case is U.S. v. Warshak.

Under SCA, law enforcement agents can compel Internet service providers to disclose the contents of private communications they hold on behalf of users. Such communications include, of course, personal and business e-mail, along with other documents, photos, and … Read more