The law regarding the Fourth Amendment’s application to digital evidence continues to evolve as each branch of government tries to keep pace with society’s increased reliance on technology. Americans increasingly use laptops and tablets, email, and cell phones to transact both personal and professional business while on-the-go, and the information stored on these devices more frequently is sought in the investigation of crimes. In the face of rapid advancements in technology, legislators and the courts work to frame the limits of government access while balancing competing societal privacy expectations. This article looks at circumstances under which the government can obtain digital information.
Emails
In most cases, the government does not need a warrant based on probable cause to look at an individual’s emails. Case law from the 1970s establishes that a person has no expectation of privacy and, therefore, no Fourth Amendment protection of information shared with a third party. 1 With many emails, webmail providers such as Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft may function as this third party, arguably eviscerating any legitimate privacy concerns. It is unclear, however, how the decades-old third-party doctrine of the Fourth Amendment applies to modern technologies.
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