US Court: 'Pocket-Dialed' Calls Are Not Private

itwbennett writes: In a case of a pocket-dialed call, a conscientious secretary, and sensitive personnel issues, a federal appeals court in Ohio has ruled pocket-dialers shouldn't have any expectation of privacy. 'Under the plain-view doctrine, if a homeowner neglects to cover a window with drapes, he would lose his reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to a viewer looking into the window from outside of his property,' the court said. The same applies to pocket-dialed calls, according to the court. If a person doesn't take reasonable steps to keep their call private, their communications are not protected by the Wiretap Act.

Comments

Re:"Pocket dialed"?

[Idarubicin]

It must happen to people a lot

In New York City in 2012, roughly 40% of 911 calls were apparent butt dials. Their category (calls less than 20 seconds long, no response from the caller) probably includes some other inadvertent calls as well, but the majority are probably phone-in-pocket situations.

Just for NYC, that's more than 10 thousand calls per day, and about 4 million 911 calls per year.

Butts.