[tor-talk] US Federal Court: The Fourth Amendment Does Not Protect Your Home Computer

[grarpamp]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/federal-court-fourth-amendment-does-not-protect-your-home-computer
https://www.eff.org/files/2016/06/23/matish_suppression_edva.pdf
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/06/23/2040255/federal-court-the-fourth-amendment-does-not-protect-your-home-computer

The EFF reports that a federal court in Virginia today ruled that a
criminal defendant has no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in his
personal computer (PDF), located inside his home. The court says the
federal government does not need a warrant to hack into an
individual's computer. EFF reports: "The implications for the
decision, if upheld, are staggering: law enforcement would be free to
remotely search and seize information from your computer, without a
warrant, without probable cause, or without any suspicion at all. To
say the least, the decision is bad news for privacy. But it's also
incorrect as a matter of law, and we expect there is little chance it
would hold up on appeal. (It also was not the central component of the
judge's decision, which also diminishes the likelihood that it will
become reliable precedent.) But the decision underscores a broader
trend in these cases: courts across the country, faced with unfamiliar
technology and unsympathetic defendants, are issuing decisions that
threaten everyone's rights.