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Appeals Court Rolls Back Computer Privacy Guidelines

Posted by Soulskill on from the let's-shoot-from-the-hip-instead dept.

Last year we discussed news of a court ruling that established a set of guidelines for how investigators can enact search warrants involving electronically stored data. Essentially, it required authorities to specify the data for which they were searching, and to take precautions to avoid the collection of unrelated data, whether it was incriminating or not. Now, a federal appeals court has thrown out those guidelines despite agreeing with the conclusion that investigators must only collect data specified in a warrant. Instead, the ruling (PDF) leaves us with a plea for "greater vigilance on the part of judicial officers in striking the right balance between the government’s interest in law enforcement and the right of individuals to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures."

2 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Well... we're boned. by AltairDusk · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nice to know our latest appointee to the Supreme Court is looking out for our privacy rights.

    From TFA:

    Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, as solicitor general last year, had urged the court to reverse itself amid complaints that federal prosecutions were being complicated, and computer searches were grinding to a halt, because of the detailed guidelines.

  2. A few useful links for disk encryption by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 3, Informative

    Whole disk encryption needs to become mainstream. There are many approaches. Here are a few useful links.

    If you want your OS to encrypt everything, Fedora makes it easy. So does Ubuntu.

    If you want an add-on software package, PGP works well. In a slightly more involved way, so does Truecrypt.

    If you prefer a hardware solution, you can adapt regular, off-the shelf drives with an encryptor such as the Deskcrypt. Fully-encrypted hard drives are available from most vendors, too, but the ones I've found most generally useful (as in, "compatible with every other sort of hardware") are the Eclypt models from Stonewood.

    I have owned and used all the products above and like them very much. If you feel different, feel free to Google things like "Momentus FDE" or "WinMagic" or "Guardian Edge Hard Drive" for other vendors and approaches. Take whatever path seems most reasonable and logical to you.

    But for God's sake, would everyone please start encrypting your drives? That's not everything you need to do. It's just a minimal first step toward personal security. But it's a start.