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When police can legally peruse your cell phone, PDA during an arrest [priv]
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:37:14 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com> Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 01:30:46 -0500 To: <politech () politechbot com> Subject: [Politech] When police can legally peruse your cell phone, PDA during an arrest [priv] -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [Politech] Nude photos on cell phones lure cops;always encrypt everything [priv] Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:30:39 -0500 From: Ted Bridis <TBridis () ap org> To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Do the police have a right to search through all the "data" a person
has in thier possession at the time of arrest?<< http://www.cybercrime.gov/s&smanual2002.pdf "Search and Seizure Manual: Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations" "... To determine whether an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in information stored in a computer, it helps to treat the computer like a closed container such as a briefcase or file cabinet. The Fourth Amendment generally prohibits law enforcement from accessing and viewing information stored in a computer without a warrant if it would be prohibited from opening a closed container and examining its contents in the same situation. "... When confronted with this issue, courts have analogized electronic storage devices to closed containers, and have reasoned that accessing the information stored within an electronic storage device is akin to opening a closed container. Because individuals generally retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of closed containers, see United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 822-23 (1982), they also generally retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in data held within electronic storage devices. Accordingly, accessing information stored in a computer ordinarily will implicate the owner's reasonable expectation of privacy in the information. See United States v. Barth, 26 F. Supp. 2d 929, 936-37 (W.D. Tex. 1998) (finding reasonable expectation of privacy in files stored on hard drive of personal computer); United States v. Reyes, 922 F. Supp. 818, 832-33 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (finding reasonable expectation of privacy in data stored in a pager); United States v. Lynch, 908 F. Supp. 284, 287 (D.V.I. 1995) (same); United States v. Chan, 830 F. Supp. 531, 535 (N.D. Cal. 1993) (same); United States v. Blas, 1990 WL 265179, at *21 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 4, 1990) ("[A]n individual has the same expectation of privacy in a pager, computer, or other electronic data storage and retrieval device as in a closed container.")." _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/) ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- When police can legally peruse your cell phone, PDA during an arrest [priv] David Farber (Apr 01)