A few months ago, in a case of first impression, the New York Court of Appeals decided its first computer search case. In People v. DeProspero,1 the court entered a new era in which courts must evaluate emerging technology under the Fourth Amendment. While some lower state courts, as well as numerous federal circuit appeals courts, have had occasion to discuss the Fourth Amendment implications for electronic devices, this was the court’s first opportunity to address the intersection of digital evidence and search and seizure.2
Courts are being asked with some frequency to adapt to technology that, until 20 years ago, was non-existent; digital evidence is stored on cell phones, smartphones, GPS devices, tablets and home computers. One commentator has suggested that with respect to the Fourth Amendment, we are now in the same situation that individuals faced when the automobile was invented: "The computer will be to the 21st century Fourth Amendment what the automobile was to the 20th century Fourth Amendment. In both cases, transformative technologies justify technology specific rules."3 As we know, the advent of the automobile brought with it a substantial body of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.
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