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EFF Weighs in on Computer Privacy Case

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the what-will-they-think-of-next dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A case on appeal to the Washington State Court of Appeals, State v. Westbrook, recently drew the attention of the EFF. They argue that: "citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of their computers, and that their Fourth Amendment rights don't disappear when a computer is delivered to a technician for servicing." This ruling could threaten to 'turn your friendly neighborhood computer repair technician into a government informer' "

3 of 564 comments (clear)

  1. The last thing I want... by Karma_fucker_sucker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    is some tech seeing pictures of my baby daughter in the bathtub and then calling the cops because of my "kiddie porn." Then having to spend the thousands of $$$ on an attourney to get myself out of custody and to prove my innocence. Because when it comes to: terrorism, drugs, taxes, and kiddie porn, you are guilty until proven innocent, maybe not legally, but that's how the system works around these crimes.

    --
    Evil people don't think they're evil. - George Lucas, Making of Ep III
  2. Re:EFF defends right to keep child porn private by utopianfiat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where did he find the child pornography? In a spam email sent to the defendant that was sitting in his trashcan? In his temporary files directory? In his kazaa shared folder which he doesn't even know he has because his 17-year-old son is a porno addict? In his pictures directory containing pictures of his daughter in the bathtub?
    There are so many scenarios to consider here that you can't just cry "pedophile" when you find something like that on someone's hard drive. I mean, I hate letting pedos walk free just as much as every other concerned citizen, but not at the expense of my privacy, and possibly my clean legal status if we're going to witch hunt about it.
    It's no secret that even an accusation of a sexual crime can possibly ruin someone for life, and it's definitely not to be taken lightly. This is where we need to strictly interpret one's right to privacy and use common sense before "exposing pedophiles".

    --
    +5, Truth
  3. How it should work by Monty845 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It should work like this:

    1. Computer Repair Technician finds something he believes is illegal on your computer.
    2. Tech calls the cops
    3. Based on the claims of the tech the cops apply for and get a warrant
    4. Cops search your computer
    5. You go to jail, cops profit

    What the EFF is upset about is that they skipped step #3. What is so hard about getting the warrant and then searching the computer?