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Does Cheap Tech Undermine Legal Privacy Protections?
bfwebster writes "Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor who focuses on legal issues regarding information technology (I own a copy of his book Computer Crime Law) raises an interesting issue about a 2001 Supreme Court decision (Kyllo v. United States) that prohibited police from using a thermal imaging device on a private home without a warrant. (The police were trying to detect excess heat coming from the roof of a garage, as an indication of lamps being used to grow marijuana inside.) The Court made its decision back in 2001 because thermal imaging devices were 'not in general use' and therefore represented a technology that required a warrant. However, Kerr points out that anyone can now buy such thermal imaging devices for $50 to $150 from Amazon, and that they're advertised as a means of detecting thermal leakage from your home. In light of that, Kerr asks, is the Supreme Court's ruling still sound?"
Of course in reality this is a case where multiple concerns must be weighted against one another. In the real world there are competing effects.
Specifically you need to weigh safety against privacy. Obviously when safety fails you're dead. When privacy fails you're at worst shamed. So it is acceptable to break privacy restrictions to increase safety.
Welcome to the real world.