Privacy from federal government sees week of landmark victories

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/Channels/Story.aspx?ID=1328094

12/15/2010

This week has been big for privacy in new technologies. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied a request by the federal government to reconsider a decision regarding access to cell phone records that reveal locations. Under the previous ruling the government will need to obtain a probable cause search warrant to receive cell phone records. That decision reflects a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Tuesday which requires the federal government to obtain a search warrant before seizing emails from service providers. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the court ruled that email users can assume the same privacy expectations with email as they would with phone calls and postal mail.