Reuters News Service reported Tuesday October 11 2016 that the government asked Yahoo to scan incoming user email for certain phrases and words. Yahoo responded by writing a program that complied with the request the wire service revealed.
The Department of Justice now claims that under the 4th Amendment it can simply subpoena an Internet company like Facebook and demand that they turn over all the records they have on" a certain subject Peter Van Buren wrote two years ago in Mother Jones magazine.
Apple and Microsoft for instance have fought law enforcement efforts to seek private communications. But in this most recent Yahoo case company officials apparently took the path of least resistance and just rolled over. News just last week that Yahoo secretly monitored 100s of millions of user emails at the behest of federal intelligence agencies triggered condemnation and outrage from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups and rightfully so. But the biggest surprise to come out this budding scandal is that anybody would be surprised.
Its really staggering in its breadth" Andrew Crocker an attorney with the Electronic Freedom Foundation told USA Today.
Its hard to even anticipate what kind of arguments the (U.S.) government could make for the constitutionality or legality of this program."
Not really. Government law enforcement officials in recent years have taken the position that they dont run afoul of the 4th Amendments protection against unreasonable searches and seizures when they commandeer a 3rd-party private entity to do their dirty work.Their explanation: The DOJ isnt doing the searching just demanding that another organization do it" said Van Buren in his now two-years-old Mother Jones article.
This is a clear sign that people can trust neither their government nor their service providers to respect their privacy" an Amnesty International tech expert told The Associated Press.
If we complacently shrug off such intrusions as the inevitable consequence of our quest for security well ultimately get what we deserve.
If the Bill of Rights is to survive the courts must reassert their authority as a check on government overreach and demand that federal agents obtain warrants before seeking access to the personal information and communications of millions of Americans.
Consumers must also play a role and signal loud and clear they will not tolerate tech companies that are unwilling to fight for their privacy.
