[LINK] Warrant/Sub Poena Protection for Email

[Adam Todd]

Oh this is nothing.

Justice Latham found on 11 April 2007 that a 
subpoena can not be issued to s stranger to a proceeding.

So if you are suing Jason, and you want his bank 
records to prove he withdrew money, you 
can't.  The Supreme Court has decided you can't 
subpoena the bank, unless you want to join the 
bank as a party to the proceedings.  (Substitute 
Bank, for Telecommunications carrier, newspaper, 
hospital, government agency, real estate Agent, etc etc etc)

Not even the POLICE can issue a subpoena to gain 
information in a criminal proceeding, unless the 
party who they are issuing the subpoena upon is 
either the Prosecutor or the Defendant.

Puts a new spin on the Terrorist Trials where 
documents were subpoenaed from strangers to the proceedings huh!

I guess those 9 guys can be released and the 
charges dismissed as the evidence collected 
against them was unlawfully collected.

At 12:23 PM 27/06/2007, Roger Clarke wrote:

>            http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_14.13.html
>
>========================================================================
>[5] Court Finds Email Private, Enjoys Fourth Amendment Protection
>========================================================================
>
>On June 16, the Sixth Circuit court of appeals ruled that portions of
>the Stored Communications Act violate the Fourth Amendment protection
>from unreasonable searches and seizures.  In Warshak v. United States,
>the court found that an individual has a reasonable expectation of
>privacy in the emails one has stored at an ISP. Therefore, the court
>held, when the government seeks to obtain the contents of emails stored
>at an ISP, it must either use a warrant or notify the owner of the email
>account that a subpoena has been issued.
>
>Steven Warshak was under investigation for violating several federal
>laws. During this investigation the government sent subpoenas to his
>ISPs requesting his subscriber account information as well as the
>contents of some of his emails. The orders were issued under seal, but
>Warshak was later notified of their existence when they were unsealed.
>Warshak then sued the government asking for an order declaring this
>access unconstitutional and preventing the government from further
>accessing his emails. A federal judge in Ohio granted Warshak a
>temporary injunction barring the government from accessing emails of
>individuals in its coverage without a warrant or notification to that
>individual.
>
>The Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2701 - 2712) permits the
>government to access emails stored at an ISP under certain conditions
>with the issuance of a subpoena. (18 U.S.C. § 2703(b)). The act also
>permits the government to delay notification of this access under
>certain conditions, such as if it would lead to flight from prosecution,
>or destruction of evidence. (18 U.S.C. § 2705). The government argued
>that this provision is constitutional because one does not have an
>expectation of privacy in what one has turned over to a third party, in
>this case the ISP.  The court ruled otherwise, likening emails to
>telephone calls.  One does not expect privacy in the numbers they dial,
>but does expect that the content of their calls is private, even if the
>telephone company could be listening.
>
>Further, the court found that Warshak's suit is not limited to his
>emails. The court decided that Warshak's request is properly a "facial
>challenge" that challenges the text of a law on its face, under all
>circumstances. Thus the effect of the ruling is to prevent the
>government from access to the emails of all individuals in southern
>Ohio, the site of the original suit, absent a warrant or a subpoena with
>notification to the subject.
>
>Sixth Circuit Decision in Warshak v. United States (pdf):
>
>       http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/07a0225p-06.pdf
>
>EPIC's page on Wiretapping:
>
>       http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/
>
>========================================================================
>
>--
>Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/
>
>Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
>                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
>mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/
>
>Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
>Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
>Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
>_______________________________________________
>Link mailing list
>Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link