IRS believes it can read your emails, chats, and more without a warrant [View all]

[Poll_Blind]

http://www.slashgear.com/irs-believes-it-can-read-your-emails-chats-and-more-without-a-warrant-10277338/

Looks like the IRS believes it can read your emails, Facebook Chats, Twitter Direct Messages, SMS messages, and more without needing to obtain a search warrant beforehand. However, a ruling in the 2010 case, U.S. v. Warshak, by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals states that accessing someone’s email messages without obtaining a warrant first violates the Fourth Amendment. According to an IRS 2009 Search Warrant Handbook discovered by the American Civil Liberties Union, the IRS says,

“Emails and other transmissions generally lose their reasonable expectation of privacy and thus their Fourth Amendment protection once they have been sent from an individual’s computer.”

The ACLU says that under the currently outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), if an email is in an email provider’s server for more than 180 days, or has been opened, it does not require a warrant to access. Authorities can access the emails with just an administrative subpoena. Luckily, the ruling in the U.S v. Warshak protects individuals from unreasonable searches by the government. However, the main fear is whether or not the IRS would be abiding by the Warshak ruling throughout the entire country, or if its only going to be abiding by it throughout the Sixth Circuit.

Much more at the link! That's...outrageous. Truly.

PB