No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data - ProPublica

[WillyT]

No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data
by Theodoric Meyer and Peter Maass - ProPublica
Update, Jan. 8, 2014: This post has been updated. It was originally published on Dec. 4, 2012.

<snip>

The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day. Authorities can often obtain your emails and texts by going to Google or AT&T with a simple subpoena that doesn’t require showing probable cause of a crime. And recent revelations about classified National Security Agency surveillance programs show that the government is regularly sweeping up data on Americans’ telephone calls and has the capability to access emails, files, online chats and other data — all under secret oversight by a special federal court.

The breadth of and justification for the surveillance are the subjects of ongoing debate in Washington. President Obama and others have defended the programs as necessary to identify terrorists and stop attacks before they happen, but privacy advocates and several U.S. lawmakers have questioned them.

Here's a look at what the government can get from you and the legal framework behind its power:

<snip>

The Rest: http://www.propublica.org/special/no-warrant-no-problem-how-the-government-can-still-get-your-digital-data

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[snot]

2. K&R'd.

[jsr]

3. This is a must read.