Blown To Bits

The Fourth Amendment Protects Your Email

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 by Harry Lewis
As buy mirapex from canada both groups had similar results, it is challenging to draw cialis generic any solid conclusions from the study regarding the effects of buy methotrexate online cinnamon. However, a person can find many free workouts online, atrovent for sale which may be preferable for those working with a smaller order cialis on internet budget or less fitness equipment at home. The physician assesses cephalexin online the individual, with the aim of diagnosing, treating, and preventing purchase zoloft online disease using knowledge learned from training, research, and experiences, and order discount tizanidine online effects clinical judgment. Some symptoms may be indirectly related to high remeron blood pressure but not necessarily caused by the condition itself. mirapex Practicing appropriate sleep hygiene and getting enough quality sleep each night.

A year and a half ago I blogged about the case of Steven Warshak, whose email the US government had obtained without a search warrant. At that point the opinion of the court was that no warrant was needed to obtain your email from your ISP. The reasoning was a bit like the original court view of telephone wiretapping–no warrant needed, since after all, what did you think was going to happen to your conversation once it left the confines of your house?

A US court of appeals has now held that the government needs a search warrant to get your email. “Given the fundamental similarities between email and traditional forms of communication,” the court writes, “it would defy common sense to afford emails lesser Fourth Amendment protection.” The court has elected to go with common sense. Bad people do a lot of bad stuff by email, but there is no reason why investigators shouldn’t have to take the same steps to justify their searches they would have to do to open postal mail or listen in on a phone call.

Read the EFF’s announcement, which has a link to the decision.

One Response to “The Fourth Amendment Protects Your Email”

  1. Joho the Blog » [berkman] Weekly Berkman Buzz Says:

    […] Harry Lewis explains that the Fourth Amendment now applies to email: link […]