[Discuss] Data including email, stored in the cloud, may be available to law enforcement without search warrant

[markw at mohawksoft.com (markw at mohawksoft.com)]

> On 11/3/2011 8:47 AM, scottmarydavidsam at gmail.com wrote:
>> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/ecpa-turns-twenty-five/
>>
>> Paraphrasing the article:
>>
>> According to the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the law
>> still
>> considers data that has been left on cloud servers for longer than six
>> months to be "abandoned.".
>>
>> Law enforcement officers will continue to have access to citizens'
>> stored
>> communications that are more than six months old without a warrant as
>> long
>> as they assert that the content is relevant to a criminal investigation.
>> The law also allows law enforcement to access all files stored in the
>> cloud
>> for longer than six months without a warrant, even though cloud storage
>> services, like Dropbox, did not exist in 1986.
>>
>> A federal appeals court last year ruled that email stored in the cloud
>> for
>> longer than six months still requires a warrant for access, but the
>> ruling
>> applies only to Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
>
> This is a problem that can be easily solved by using end-to-end
> encryption. The capability is already built-in to every common email
> client.

Assuming your ISP allows encryption to a server on your premises. Most
email servers are outside of your premises and thus in the custody of a
"provider." The problem is that there is no 4th amendment protection for
your data in the custody of a vendor. They can be ordered to hand over
your data, unencrypted, by any number of government agencies.



>
> Bill, who encrypts all his email to prevent the FBI from finding out how
> boring his life is.
>
> --
> Bill Horne
> 774-219-7638 (cell)
> 339-364-8487 (office)
>
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