The Police, Data Extractions Devices, and Our Shrinking Privacy Rights

                                           [Photo from cbsnews.com]

This has not been a good week for lovers of freedom and the right to privacy!  First of all, we learned from various news reports that Apple's iPhone gathers easily accessed data about everywhere the phone user has been.  I reported on this news story yesterday in my divorce law blog.  (http://www.divorcelawyerinaugustageorgia.blogspot.com/)  There, I focused on the point that divorce lawyers may start seeking iPhone records in order to prove adultery in divorce cases.  I also pointed out the potential for abuse of this new technology by over-zealous police officers in criminal investigations.

                                          [Photo from celebrite.com]

Then, yesterday, we learned from various news reports, that the Michigan State Police have obtained  another new device, called data extraction devices, ("DEDs"), which could also lead to some dangerous possibilities, in the eyes of freedom lovers everywhere.  DEDs, as shown above, are portable devices which are designed to download personal information from cell phones.  Apparently, DEDs will bypass any security feature on your cell phone and gather all the data on it.  According to news reports, the Michigan ACLU has written the director of the Michigan State Police to see whether or not police there have been snooping and surreptitiously gathering text messages, telephone numbers, photos, and even GPS information from citizens' cell phones during routine traffic stops.  If so, in my opinion, this would clearly violate the citizens' right to privacy and Fourth Amendment rights.  The police agency has reportedly denied that any unauthorized snooping has occurred.  But one can only wonder, then, why have the Michigan police obtained the DEDs in the first place?

So, don't you see, this has not been a good week for lovers of freedom and the right to privacy!  What is your opinion about these news stories?

Web cams and iPhones: More Scary Cases Involving Privacy Issues!

Look, just because I'm making another post about the government and privacy issues, it doesn't mean that I'm becoming a conspiracy theorist! However, two more cases which are "in the news" should make all of us, who are lovers of freedom, a little more wary about whether or not "Big Brother is watching you!"

I. THE PENNSYLVANIA WEBCAM CASE:

The first case, in Pennsylvania, involves a school official who allegedly spied on a 15 year old student at home via a web cam installed on a school-issued laptop computer. The computers had been provided to all high school students in that school district. The family of the student has filed a lawsuit against the school district and alleged that a school official must have spied on their son because he complained to their son about his alleged unspecified inappropriate behavior while in the privacy of his own home. These allegations, if proven true, should get the attention of everyone who is concerned about government spying and invasions of privacy!

II. THE CALIFORNIA CELL PHONE SEARCH CASE:

The second case, in San Mateo County, California, involves a police search of an arrested suspect's cell phone. Supreme Court precedents generally allow the police to search a person, (and the area within their immediate control), incident to a lawful arrest. The primary purpose of this exception to the general rule (that the police should have a search warrant) is to allow the police to search an arrested person for guns or other weapons which might be used against the arresting officer, (and to prevent the destruction of evidence by the suspect). However, in this California case, the police went much further by searching a suspect's iPhone in his possession for possible evidence to be used against him. This case, in my opinion, is, admittedly, a closer case than the Pennsylvania webcam spying case. However, in my opinion, even in cases like this one, the courts should generally come down on the side of individual freedom and privacy. In other words, the courts should decide that the police must obtain a search warrant before they can search an arrested person's cell phone, laptop, or other private, information-storing electronic or computer devices.

Again, it is important to point out that the primary purpose of this warrantless search exception is to allow limited intrusions in order to protect police officer's lives. But not many police officers need to worry about a suspect using a cell phone as a weapon against them! Therefore, the courts should not allow this limited search exception for weapons to be expanded into an unlimited "fishing expedition" for evidence! To search for evidence, the police should generally still be required to obtain a search warrant from a neutral and detached magistrate! In my opinion, the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution demands it!

Even though I may be a former federal prosecutor, I still believe the police must do their jobs properly. Here's hoping that the courts in such cases will side with those who are concerned about freedom and privacy. And here's hoping that each of us will be more and more alert to the fact that "Big Brother" may be watching each of us! What do you think?

The Right to Privacy v. Electronic Monitoring of Employees' Computers

"The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom."

-- Justice William O. Douglas

Today, I want to climb aboard the soapbox again to vent about an important matter which should concern all lovers of freedom and the right to privacy. This problem involves the growing lack of privacy in the workplace. Everywhere, employers are regularly intruding into their employees' private matters on employees' computers. According to one source, (the Center of Business Ethics, Bentley College), by 2003, 92 % of all employers were regularly conducting some form of electronic monitoring of their employees. In my opinion, some companies go too far! Many companies regularly fire employees for misuses of the internet and alleged private email misuse. Other companies go further by monitoring employees' IM chats and blogging. And other companies videotape their employees and utilize GPS satellite tracking of employees' cars and cell phones! In most cases, without clear justification, this is outrageous! In my opinion, something must be done to combat this growing problem of government and employers' intrusions into private employee matters. In short, I recommend the development of new legal standards and new criminal laws addressing the invasion of employee privacy, in terms of what employers (and the government) can and cannot do. We already have federal wiretap laws to prevent illicit electronic eavesdropping on private telephone conversations. Now, in my opinion, we also need to begin a dialogue about similar protections for private employee conversations over the internet. As Justice Douglas might conclude, the right to be let alone, including in our private email and internet chats, is an important part of our freedom! What do you think?