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US House Passes Bill Requiring Warrants To Search Old Emails (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Monday to require law enforcement authorities to obtain a search warrant before seeking old emails from technology companies, a win for privacy advocates fearful the Trump administration may work to expand government surveillance powers. The House passed the measure by a voice vote. But the legislation was expected to encounter resistance in the Senate, where it failed to advance last year amid opposition by a handful of Republican lawmakers after the House passed it unanimously. Currently, agencies such as the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission only need a subpoena to seek such data from a service provider.

94 comments

  1. Republicans vote against safety... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    yet again. It's sad.

    1. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They care more about privacy than safety.

    2. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Republicans realize they have more to fear from Trump reading their emails than Obama...

    3. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Republicans realize they have more to fear from Trump reading their emails than Obama...

      No, they just had Obama promising to veto any such thing. Republicans tabled all sorts of legislation because of that obstructionism. Which is fine. It's supposed to be an adversarial relationship, between those two co-equal branches of government.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    4. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 2

      yet again. Sad!

      Fixed that for you.

    5. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The house is majority Republican. It is the Republicans that just passed this privacy measure

      --
      Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    6. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by unixisc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, somehow busts the myth that Republicans are against privacy and for an intrusive law enforcement all in the name of security

    7. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure there's an exemption for "national security" that will be the reason for 99.9999% of requests. Govt doesn't give up power.

    8. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by Gussington · · Score: 2

      Yeah, somehow busts the myth that Republicans are against privacy and for an intrusive law enforcement all in the name of security

      Myth? You do realise the whole NSA/Snowden spying and torture thing occurred under Republican watch yeah?
      I'm not saying Dems are any better, but let's not get too carried away here...

    9. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Myth? You do realise the whole NSA/Snowden spying and torture thing occurred under Republican watch yeah?

      Which administration was in charge in 2013? Republican watch?

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    10. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its funny how you think this is still about DEM vs REP. Its about Trump vs Satanists/pedo's . Keep drinking the coolaid, you will wake up at some point soon.

    11. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      Ssshhh..keep it down, this doesn't fit the black & white mainstream narrative at all. Are you trying to sow chaos? Don't stress out those who aren't near a safe space.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    12. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Indeed, because Mr. Obama was really Stazi.

    13. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      At first I thought GP was joking and you deserved a "Whooosh!" but now I'm not so sure. Poe's Law and all that.

    14. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by guises · · Score: 1

      It was a voice vote - unanimous / bipartisan in the house. I'm curious why it's only senate republicans opposing this, and not house republicans, but it does seem to be a partisan issue. Just not in the house, for some reason.

    15. Re: Republicans vote against safety... by SoftwareArtist · · Score: 2

      Maybe you misread the summary? A similar measure passed the house unanimously last year, but was blocked in the senate "amid opposition by a handful of Republican lawmakers." They could easily have overridden a veto. But they never let it get that far, and it was Republicans who blocked it.

      I won't draw any partisan conclusions from that. It clearly had strong support in both parties, and most Republicans supported it. But trying to blame Obama doesn't fit the facts.

      --
      "I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
    16. Re:Republicans vote against safety... by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Myth? You do realise the whole NSA/Snowden spying and torture thing occurred under Republican watch yeah?

      Which administration was in charge in 2013? Republican watch?

      You know 2013 was only when the information was leaked, not when it happened yeah?
      Most of the bad stuff we have now started with Bush jnr, 'war on terror' etc. Sure Obama kept it going, but it started with GWB, which is why the R's earned the reputation they have now.

  2. No protection for old secrets? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Didn't realize the constitution applied only to recent correspondence...

  3. Rubber Stamp by borcharc · · Score: 0

    So now they need to get a rubber stamp to get into old emails. I really don't see the difference, instead of getting the subpoena rubber stamped, they need a magistrate judge (non-appointed rubber stamper) to stamp them. This is an insulting joke.

    1. Re:Rubber Stamp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So in your line of thinking all search warrants and subpoenas are "rubber stamped"? And in your little paranoid and delusional world who would get to determine what warrants and subpoenas are not rubber stamped? I will assume you also think all FISA warrants or NSL's are not necessary or needed when you, like most people, do not understand that any evidence collected under a FISA warrant or NSL is not admissible in court. While FISA warrants and NSL's provide powers that can override constitutional protections these investigative tools allow the government to investigate national security threats but limit their usefulness in court. It's a balanced nuance of preserving people's rights while also allowing national security threats to be handled. The Constitution is not a suicide pact and there are legitimate threats to national security that cannot be ignored. People have been claiming their Constitutional rights have been taken away from them but cannot point to a single example where this imaginary loss of rights has actually harmed anyone. Or that someone has been charged with a crime and been denied the chance to even argue their rights have been violated. On the other hand there is a shit load of examples of charges being summarily dismissed because the court ruled that their rights were violated. The government tried using the Patriot Act provisions to prosecute two different cases and both cases were thrown out of court because the Patriot Act provisions were ruled unconstitutional. The government has never tried using the Patriot Act in court since then.

      The most annoying thing about people like you is how fast you would reverse your opinions on warrants and subpoenas the minute you become the victim of a crime. All the people complaining about the government spy agencies actually spying were the same people railing on the government for allowing 9/11 to happen.

    2. Re:Rubber Stamp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] you, like most people, do not understand that any evidence collected under a FISA warrant or NSL is not admissible in court.

      You, like most of the worst people, do not understand that parallel construction Trumps admissibility.

      The most annoying thing about people like you is how fast you would reverse your opinions on warrants and subpoenas the minute you become the victim of a crime.

      Oooh, a psychic in our midst!

    3. Re:Rubber Stamp by borcharc · · Score: 4, Informative

      Your comment is very presumptuous about both my point and my views. I don't care about NSL's or FISA warrants. I don't care about going after terrorists or enemy combatants. I care about Americans in America who the government is abusing. I care about real people, whom I have personally spoken with, who have and are facing these issues, not people in some thought experiment. Some of them are non-Abrahamic religious minorities that the government seems obsessed with, mostly due to a lack of understanding of their religion. People and causes you have never heard about...

      I care about warrants issued by in district courts that function as rubber stamps. I read search warrants every day and more then you may suspect are very weak. They have a very diluted view on what probable cause is. These warrants are generally sealed and in many cases the subject of them is never notified that they were the subject of a search. I am not just talking about electronic records; mail, cars, homes are all searched in this way. I think you would be shocked at the number of packages that both state and federal search warrants are obtained for and are not found to contain anything illegal. In these cases the package is repacked and delivered to the recipient without notification. These searches as documented in my local courts are no more accurate than a coin toss. But if you are on the wrong side of the coin toss, good luck, your life just got incredibly difficult.

      If someone wants to make you a target than all an agent of the government needs is to claim to have been identified by an informant, that claim alone passes as probable cause in this world. The "informant" is never made available to the judge for questioning, they just take the agents word for it. The records of this search could stay sealed for years but don't expect a notification when its unsealed if you are an unknowing subject of one. As for subpoenas, they are rubber stamped, they are not subject to judicial review. The government just issues them to themselves. The court only gets involved if you say no.

      As for something that impacts me, if a warrant is actually supported by probable cause, and the judge makes an inquiry into the facts of the matter, then I am cool with it being issued. What more often happens is the judge reads the application and signs it. When you fail to be skeptical, then you become a rubber stamp. I believe that it should be very hard for the government to invade your privacy or convict you of a crime. Our society has given the government far too much latitude in these matters and it needs to be rolled back.

    4. Re:Rubber Stamp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " federal search warrants are obtained for and are not found to contain anything illegal"
      How would the government determine if there is nothing illegal without actually conducting a the search? Probable cause is subjective in nature and we are left with human nature.

    5. Re:Rubber Stamp by Gavagai80 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Even a rubber stamp is useful for documenting a trail of who did what and their claimed reasons. Far better than not documenting it, and will make people think twice about having a look just for fun/blackmail.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    6. Re:Rubber Stamp by houghi · · Score: 1

      It is nice to know who took the cookies from the cookie jar as long as there are consequences. If there are not, it means nothing.
      In fact it means more than nothing, because is uses resources that are not needed.
      It is as if the NSAA or CIA are asked "Do you do illegal things" and they go "Yeah, we do. LOL" and then nothing happens.

      It is nice for administration and stats, just like the numbering of Jews during WWII (Yep, going full Godwin here). It is absolutely meaningless and even will give people some idea that what they do is morally correct and justified. (Not using the word legal here.)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  4. Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 3

    This would NOT be an issue in this same way if we were allowed to retrain physical possession of our email. That would put the 9 points on OUR side.

    Let me illustrate by example of how Gmail could work. There could be an option to store the email on our own computers. Generous as the google is with their storage allocation, I have way more than that in my OWN physical possession and I could, if allowed, possess my own email there.

    This could even be done in a way that is compatible with Gmail's business model. If I elect to use the option of local storage, then I would agree to run a special kind of search program on my computer. That search program would then issue search queries to the google's ad servers and, without ever examining my email on their servers, the appropriate advertisements could be served to my computer. (In my case, that means to be ignored, since I have a personal policy against feeding the google now that they've clearly gone to the dark side. Latest evidence I've read was in How Google Works .)

    If the google actually valued my privacy, they could throw in an option to encrypt the email end-to-end, even while it is on their servers. That could include while it is on their services for backup purposes, too, which would mean that they would never have any "possession" of the clear text version of my personal email, and I would retain the possession of the decryption key. If the House of so-called Representatives then wanted to read my email, they might need to consider the actual Bill of Rights. You know, the stuff about warrants and probable cause and all that jazz.

    Oh well. Nobody expects the Email Inquisition. Y'all have a nice day, hear?

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    1. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by by+(1706743) · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I think that this is pretty easy to accomplish with a personal email server. Gmail != email. Of course, you can still set up gmail to download email, and I believe you can even uncheck the "store on server" button (though of course, who's to say that really causes them to delete the emails in a timely fashion once downloaded...).

      Alternately, I believe there are numerous email providers which claim not to store your details/downloaded email (for a fee).

    2. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      This would NOT be an issue in this same way if we were allowed to retrain physical possession of our email.

      Uhhhh, the entire purpose of email is to send it to other people. Perhaps hundreds of other people. How do you retrain [sic] possession of something you must distribute to others for it to be of any value?

      There could be an option to store the email on our own computers.

      There is. Get a domain name. Pay for business class internet service. Install an email server. Oila, as much as can be possible, you store your email on your own computer.

      As for end-to-end encryption and keeping your email secret, you still have to distribute the decryption key to the recipients, each of whom will now have a copy of your email in their physical possession and not yours.

      If the House of so-called Representatives then wanted to read my email,

      I doubt that any member of the House is interested in reading your email.

    3. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 1, Funny

      Too shallow. Also feeble. No reply merited.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    4. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 1
      Yes, I understand, pointing out that you could have what you claim to want right now is "shallow" and "feeble". It's more important to complain about how a free service that you've chosen to handle your email for you does things you don't like.

      Of course, the fact that you cannot actually have what you want anyway is also "shallow" and "feeble", and you have no reply available to that.

    5. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Since when are you "not allowed" to register a domain for $15, establish it on one of the many dynamic DNS services available, and then put in an MX record for your domain, and use the port forwarding on your NAT router to send ports 25, 110, 143, 465, 993, and 995 to your old desktop PC or laptop that you don't use anymore, running Linux and Postfix?

      I've been hosting my own email for over a decade, on a range of different ISPs. Whoever says you aren't allowed, is lying.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    6. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 1, Funny

      That is actually touching on a good point that I didn't directly address. If you are rich enough and value your privacy that much, then you certainly can try to control your email better by using your own email server. Doesn't always work as well as it might. There was a certain H. Clinton who tried that approach...

      Rather than chase (or get sucked) down that rabbit hole, let me just say that I think regular people should also have the freedom to control their own email. They should even be allowed to use "full-service" email systems such as Gmail without sacrificing their Constitutional rights.

      What makes it especially bad in the case of the google is the hypocrisy of the "Don't be evil" thing. There are ways to make email less evil and less subject to abuse, but the google has chosen (and is continuing to choose) not to use them. I am admitting that the google is offering a highly attractive email system, but they are offering it in an EVIL way.

      Perhaps I should try to back this conversation away from Gmail? It was merely an example I selected for the larger point of "possession"... Or should I try to defend the selection of that example on the grounds that Gmail is so easily abused in so many ways, while still being so prevalent?

      Let me say that if there were a better option available, then I would drop Gmail in the proverbial New York minute, and I certainly would not use Gmail for any "subversive" email that would actually do something like unfairly upset #PresidentTweety. (Yes, I'm sure (or hopeful?) that much of my email (and public comments like this one) would upset him, but I think I'm quite fair about it. Plus it's too easy to do.)

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    7. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 2

      What part of shallow and feeble were you [592200] unable to understand?

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    8. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In order for the email to be encrypted in a way Google can't read it, you would have to do the encryption yourself. You can already setup PGP to encrypt it yourself, so the only thing stopping your fantasy from becoming reality is you.

      If you bother to hookup your email client with any email provider, you can store all your emails locally and have them automatically deleted from the servers as soon as you download them. All you have to do is stop checking email though the online portals. So again, the only thing holding you back is you. Look into Thunderbird as your email client and pray Mozilla stays focused on Firefox and never remembers it controls an email client.

      Google gone to the dark side? When GMail first came out they clearly advertised that they scanned all your email to give you ads. It was a valued feature as it gave you ads you were interested in and let you upgrade from a 10-50MB inbox to a 1GB+ inbox. The Email Inquisition was welcomed with open arms with people screaming "Pick me, PICK ME!!!" Seriously, getting an invite to GMail to get your 1GB inbox was a huge deal. That single feature assured GMail's success overnight.

      How quickly we forget, or have we simply stopped looking around?

    9. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      I understand this is your way of having a serious conversation on /. You are pretty entertaining, so please continue.

    10. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 2

      Nothing except the willingness to spend the time and energy to understand all of the technical details and the time and money to implement them. If you put those barriers in front of all users of email, then you certainly will reduce the scope of the problem. Unfortunately, due to the network effects, the value of email would be greatly decreased.

      Oh wait. Doesn't even work. You would have to force each of your correspondents to learn the same things and expend the same amounts of time and money.

      Now I see that I have been drawn off chasing another shallow wild goose. I should have noticed the absence of any reference to "possession". Mea culpa.

      Let me try to correct the course: I am (I would think obviously) NOT denying that secure email exists. I am suggesting that it should be available even for the peasants who want to use such convenient systems as Gmail.

      My example was evidently not very helpful or even diversionary... I chose it largely because the google would claim they HAVE to (permanently) possess your email to provide the service, but the main point of "possession" is being lost. My proposed solution to that part of the problem has evidently obscured the problem...

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    11. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 1
      OOhhh, this just gets better and better.

      then you certainly can try to control your email better by using your own email server. Doesn't always work as well as it might. There was a certain H. Clinton who tried that approach...

      H. Clinton was perfectly successful in running her own email server, which proves that pretty much anyone can. Where H. Clinton failed was in the content of the email that her server handled, not her personal email. Had her personal server not been used for State Department communications, it would not have become an issue.

      They should even be allowed to use "full-service" email systems such as Gmail without sacrificing their Constitutional rights.

      If people choose to use a commercial service and agree to the contract, then they should be free to do that. The Constitution doesn't have much to say about Google since Google is not now and never has been a government agency.

      Let me say that if there were a better option available, then I would drop Gmail in the proverbial New York minute,

      I note your subjective evaluation ("better option"), instead of the objective evaluation of "keeps my email on my server". The "better option" in terms of privacy already exists and you have not chosen it. In fact, you call it "shallow" and "feeble". Therefore, we must assume there is some other criterion that you find more important than "privacy".

      and I certainly would not use Gmail for any "subversive" email that would actually do something like unfairly upset #PresidentTweety.

      And now you've become just another political troll. Thanks for the entertainment while it lasted. Enjoy ranting about something you could solve for yourself without trying to force a multi-million dollar company to do things your way.

    12. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by by+(1706743) · · Score: 1

      Ah, understood.

      The funny thing is that our federal physical mail system already requires a warrant to open first-class mail -- though something tells me that a federally-run email provider might be met with some skepticism, at least by a number of /. types... ;)

    13. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but Google wants to stay loyal to the government...

    14. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      Your inline approach is obviously confrontational.

      My "inline approach" is how things were done before the Eternal September. If you find it confrontational for me to quote things you say and respond to them specifically, then stop saying such ridiculous things.

      so I just scanned your reply before deciding to ignore it.

      And in the spirit of ignoring my reply to you, you reply with a few hundred more words...

      the discussion should be redirected back to the original topic of "Possession is STILL 9 points of the law".

      This was one of your sillier and most irrelevant topics. "Nine points" refers to physical possession, not how law enforcement gains access to your email via warrants or subpoenas.

      I guess I should thank you [592200] for changing the subject when you diverted the discussion,

      I'm sorry, but what? You rambled on about keeping your email on your own servers and how gmail was evil for, whatever it was gmail was doing. I replied to that. Who diverted the discussion?

      Upon reflection, I guess your real point is that you are a Luddite of some sort?

      You truly are amazing.

      You agree with me about the importance of possession and miss the old days when we had more direct control over our email? Or something.

      No, I'm simply pointing out that what you want is really not possible, but you can avoid the issues of gmail quite easily if you choose to. You cannot "retrain" control of your email when you've sent it out to other people, but you can run your own email server. The former means that you cannot stop others from divulging your email; the latter means you have the most control over whether a large corporation can hand your end of the email exchange over to law enforcement without proper procedures being followed. You want to keep possession of your email on your own server? Ok, run your own server. You want end-to-end encryption? Ok, run your own server. Seems like the solution you are demanding Google provide to you for free. Why are you not running off to implement it now that we've told you you can, instead of rambling on here?

    15. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Oh wait. Doesn't even work. You would have to force each of your correspondents to learn the same things and expend the same amounts of time and money.

      That's right, you cannot retain possession of your email because YOU HAVE TO SEND IT TO OTHER PEOPLE FOR IT TO BE WORTH ANYTHING. It's like the old saying that two people can keep a secret, but only if one of them is dead.

      I am suggesting that it should be available even for the peasants who want to use such convenient systems as Gmail.

      It is available to anyone who cares enough to do it. Did you ever hear of PGP or GnuPG? Nothing stops you from applying full encryption to all of your email, except the fact that when you send the key to the recipients they will have possession of copies of your email in the clear. I suppose you could keep possession (all ten points) by encrypting your email with your public key instead of theirs and never giving them the corresponding private key, which means they could not read it, but then why send it in the first place? I know, you could have even MORE possession of your email if you created a public/private pair to encrypt your email and then threw both keys away after encryption. Then not even YOU could read your email anymore. Take THAT, Mr. House of Representatives that wants to read your email!

      I chose it largely because the google would claim they HAVE to (permanently) possess your email to provide the service,

      I've never heard them make any such claim. In any case, the solution to that problem is so easily available that I wonder why you are still going on about it. You've been handed information about both, why are you still here?

    16. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 1

      If you [by] are replying to me, then where did you pull "federally-run" out of? Not anything I've written lately. And snail mail? Not one of my main concerns. It's the secret shotgun warrants that most concern me.

      The funny part of this "discussion" is that there is apparently some consensus around my actual point, but my illustrative example has apparently driven some people nuts. Or maybe they are Russian trolls practicing their English while waiting for more serious assignments? Sort of joking, but I really can't figure out what is motivating them. I can't even figure out if your reply is sincere, but somehow confusing my comments with some other part of the conversation.

      I doubt it will help, but let me try to clarify my position. "Possession is STILL 9 points of the law and retaining possession of our email will help give more meaning to the Bill of Rights." That's an American-centric perspective, but I think it would be good if it applied internationally, though the article is specifically focused on America.

      In hopes of making the point clear, I sort of jumped the gun because I considered the most flagrant abuse which (IMO) involves email that is held by large email providers. Then I made the obvious mistake of showing how the problem could be ameliorated in the specific case of Gmail. I still think it was topical, but looking at the development of the "conversation", I feel obliged to apologize for being off topic. The connectivity which is obvious to me is not obvious to some other people.

      Or maybe optimism about the sincerity of some vocal participants in Slashdot discussions is misplaced.

      However, since you [by] have brought the feds into the discussion, I will try to respond briefly. I do think the feds could try to force email providers to protect our privacy more. I think that attempt would be unlikely to succeed. In contrast, a useful approach would be anti-monopoly pressure to encourage more competing email systems. As it applies to email, I think that would require mandating portability and extended forwarding services to make it easier to shift from one email system to another and avoid the lock-in effects.

      More to say, but out of time now...

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    17. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... Nobody expects the Email Inquisition.

      The whole point of web email is that it can be accessed by Google (or friends) and targeted marketing inserted since there isn't a protocol allowing that in SMTP/POP. It's interesting that no-one has created a protocol to extend SMTP/POP in that way; then again, no other protocol is designed to include adverts so the IETF will punish such an attempt. All this perfectly panders to the police and other government agencies who also want to access private emails.

      Your idea will be dead in the water. Remember that US legal decisions have declared that digital data isn't personal, and that's before one considers that most digital data is willingly shared with a server, or pirated by intrusive applications. Then there's the recent criminal case where the judge implied that if the police know one has it, it has to be given to the police; eliminating all semblance of privacy and the right to silence.

    18. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Gussington · · Score: 2

      Your inline approach is obviously confrontational. Might be sincere, too, but I doubt it, so I just scanned your reply before deciding to ignore it.

      .

      You might want to look up what the word 'ignore' means...

    19. Re:Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wow, you're an arrogant asshole.

      "I want a spectacularly personal service at no cost, and I want to have the hosting company lose massive amounts of money to do it. And when someone gives real alternatives that can be done today, I'm going to shit all over them about how it's too hard, and that they are 'shallow'."

      Were you born with this completely undeserved superiority, or have you just deluded yourself into it?

    20. Re: Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if he realizes you can still use pop3
      And smtp for google emails. I never log into the web client. I use a separate client that pull emails from google servers and it gets stored locally.

  5. That *is* how email worked until Gmail by raymorris · · Score: 2

    Your post didn't indicate one way or the other if you know this already, but until everybody moved to Gmail, most email was stored locally (except for @yahoo and a few minor ones). Your mail program would use a protocol called POP3 to download the new email from the server, then the server would delete it. You can still do it that way.

    The disadvantage of local storage is that it's either stored on your laptop or your phone or whatever, so it's not accessible anywhere and everywhere with just POP3. If you want it accessible from multiple devices, you set up your own IMAP server (or get own from a trusted provider).

    1. Re:That *is* how email worked until Gmail by shanen · · Score: 2

      Yes, I know that quite well. Do you know that there were protocols before POP3? Ever heard of SMTP, for example?

      Look, I don't want to berate you for the shallowness of your reply. I would like to encourage deep and thoughtful discussions, even on Slashdot. Your reply was not part of one of them, and was closer to the category of "If you have nothing to say, then..." At this point I think I would be delusional if I were seriously anticipating such discussions on Slashdot, but my excuse is that I sometimes write to clarify my own analyses and thoughts. It would be great if a deeper discussion developed, but I'm not expecting many of them.

      Still, you did manage to touch on a slightly deeper issue, though I had actually mentioned it tangentially in my comment. The encrypted backup on the google's servers could also be used to provide email access on all of your devices. It would be trickier to implement on portable devices with limited resources, but user options could let us decide the degree to which we wanted to risk our privacy (including via exposure to warrantless searches) in exchange for convenience. More could be said, but I'm going to turn to the deeper issue underlying the lack of choice:

      PROFIT! In order to absolutely maximize profits, companies like the google want to minimize costs by reducing your choices. Additional options would incur development and operational (including support) costs, so one of the many abuses of monopolists is that they prefer to force ALL of their customers to do everything in the most profitable way from THEIR perspective. The complicated reality is that the victims (AKA customers) are different and have different priorities and would exercise their freedom differently if they were allowed to. Our best hope for REAL improvements in Gmail would be a serious threat from a superior email service. Yahoo obviously failed to develop into such a threat, and though Microsoft or Apple still could, so far they are just preferring to copy the google's game plan as closely as possible.

      Me? I think freedom is more important than money. (Time is in between.)

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    2. Re:That *is* how email worked until Gmail by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      Your mail program would use a protocol called POP3 to download the new email from the server, then the server would delete it. You can still do it that way.

      The problem is that in many places and with many services, when you supposedly "delete" email off of an ISP's or other email service's servers, they will still retain a copy for some period of time, in some places mandated by law, for the express purpose of use by law enforcement and the TLAs. Many are dropping POP3 support entirely for IMAP.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    3. Re:That *is* how email worked until Gmail by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      so one of the many abuses of monopolists

      Google does not have a monopoly on email. You are free to choose another service, or run your own. The fact that you do not tells us that this issue is really not that important to you.

      The complicated reality is that the victims (AKA customers) are different and have different priorities and would exercise their freedom differently if they were allowed to.

      Other than those whose employers demand the use of gmail, and who are paying for these services, gmail users are not customers of google. The customers are the ones who pay for the data that google gleans from their gmail service. So you are wrong in referring to gmail users as "customers". They are "data".

      You are also wrong in saying they are not allowed a choice. Nobody holds a gun to someone's head until they use gmail.

      Our best hope for REAL improvements in Gmail would be a serious threat from a superior email service.

      You are free to start one, if you think you can make a profit from providing free email services to others.

      Me? I think freedom is more important than money.

      Obviously not. The option of keeping your email (as much as is possible in the real world) on your own servers has existed for decades and still does. It costs more to do that than to use the "free" gmail services, however. Freedom or money, you takes your pick, and demonstrate which is more important when you do.

      I would like to encourage deep and thoughtful discussions, even on Slashdot.

      Also obviously not. You're ignoring the most basic facts about email while complaining about a free email service, and dismiss as "feeble" any attempts at educating you.

    4. Re:That *is* how email worked until Gmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WHHHAAATTT? You 'know that quite well' but opine about a 'feature' that google allows you to do if you so choose WITHOUT adds.WTF? Who is being 'shallow' here?

      If you know what POP3, IMAP & SMTP is then have at it rather than complain something doesn't exist that actually does.

    5. Re:That *is* how email worked until Gmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mental Monopoly. It is a thing.

  6. Oh so you *knew* you were full of shit pretending by raymorris · · Score: 1

    > > This would NOT be an issue in this same way if we were allowed to retrain physical possession of our email.

    > You know you ARE "allowed to retain lhysical possession of your email" - that's POP3

    >> Yes I know quite well.

    Okay so when you wrote "if we were allowed to retrain physical possession of our email" and all that crap, you DID know it was bullshit. You just felt like pretending that you have to store your email with Google, even though you know better, for your silly rant.

    Now that it's been pointed out that your claims are factually false, you want to pretend your "deep". Maybe if you're a *really* deep thinker, your alternative facts will become real, right? LSD might help too.

  7. Showing your bias, eh? by ckatko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't you love all of the GOP bashing even though the GODDAMN BILL WAS WRITTEN BY A REPUBLICAN?

    You want to give Trump an extra 4 years? Keep bashing and invalidating people who are trying to do good things.

    This article is shit. Where's the actual votes? How can you bash the GOP as if you know they ALL opposed it? Do we know what Democrats tried to oppose it and sell out their country? No? Nah, let's ignore them because it messes with "Muh Narrative."

    Here's a link with more detail than the OP's article and the plumb sum of every comment here too:

    https://www.congress.gov/bill/...

    It doesn't have the votes talled yet. (And the article didn't even mention the fucking bill HR number?) But it's got the list of cosponsers which is a pretty obvious indicator of SUPPORTERS of the bill.

    64 Republicans
    44 Democrats.

    What's that? What? MORE REPUBLICANS cosponsered the bill? No! Surely, the GOP's only goal is to "Take Muh Freedoms!", remember?

    Goddamn. Everyone posting here who whines about "The System" doesn't realize their freaking ignorance and blind "Support the Team!" politics are the reason this country is so damn gridlocked in the first place.

    And I say all of this as a both-side voting, MODERATE. But nah, feel free to disregard my actual facts under the "He's probably a just Nazi" routine and continue ignoring the GOP people helping you (and ignoring the crimes of the Democrats who DON'T help you). That'll sure make the USA a better place.

    1. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      You seem to be awfully angry about something. I can't tell what it is you're angry about because you seem to have replied to a post on this thread which doesn't actually exist. Either that or you've just invented a post which is a mismash of every slashdot stereotype and replied angrily to that. That's fair enough, there's a fine history of people doing that here.

      it is however customary to mark such posts by signing off with "mod me down, I've got karma to burn".

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's replying to the OP article posted by BeauHD. I can see what he's saying with the bias coming out. I don't read slashdot as much due to the blatant partisanship.

    3. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 1

      You want to give Trump an extra 4 years? Keep bashing and invalidating people who are trying to do good things.

      What an odd threat. Recognize those (rare) times Republicans do the right thing, or they will help rather than hinder the incompetent president they nominated?

      Well, thank you for making my metaphor explicit. Trump's power functions like he is holding the country hostage, and even his own party sees it that way.

    4. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

      It's shifting. Not as bad as it used to be.

    5. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't have the votes talled yet.

      Near the page you linked:

      Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.

      Emphasis, mine.

    6. Re:Showing your bias, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing brings out the partisan zealots like pointing out the hypocrisy of their faction. Previous comment deserves +5 Insufferable Arrogance.

  8. Hallucinogens by raymorris · · Score: 1

    The guy thinks every mundane thought he has is so "deep", and when you and I, and others, point out he's factually incorrect, that's only because we're not on his level of deep meditation.

    10 to 1 says he'll come down in a couple hours, after the acid/shrooms/laced weed wears off.

  9. Possession is STILL 9 points of the law by shanen · · Score: 2

    Your inline approach is obviously confrontational. Might be sincere, too, but I doubt it, so I just scanned your reply before deciding to ignore it.

    I've concluded that my proposed solution to one part of the problem has obscured the deeper issue of "possession". Even though Gmail may be the specific email service where privacy is most abused and even though (I believe) there is no good reason for that abuse, the discussion should be redirected back to the original topic of "Possession is STILL 9 points of the law".

    I guess I should thank you [592200] for changing the subject when you diverted the discussion, but perhaps I should have simply said that I am not interested in that new subject. Upon reflection, I guess your real point is that you are a Luddite of some sort? You agree with me about the importance of possession and miss the old days when we had more direct control over our email? Or something.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  10. Spam gives a hint if it's stored or not by raymorris · · Score: 1

    That'sv true.

    A *hint* as to whether your email is actually deleted or not is if the provider delivers 100 spams a day to you (possibly marked with a header for you to use), or if they filter spam out pretty well.

    An old-school provider who lets you see *all* of your spam, and maybe marks it with a Spamassassin score, is *less likely* to be retaining it. It takes ten times as much resources to retain if spam isn't filtered out first.

    1. Re:Spam gives a hint if it's stored or not by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      or your provider offers you the option of setting your own MX record... :-)

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  11. Re:victim of a crime by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    I have been robbed multiple times. I fail to see how any of these gee-whiz powers would have helped to catch the thieves.

  12. A simple recommendation. by mmell · · Score: 2
    As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is not necessary to master the technical hurdles present to set up a private email server. If you choose to use a free email service such as Gmail, you must accept the limitation that they have never guaranteed the privacy of their service. This, in turn, gives the government a valid argument that since the emails are not already truly private they should be subject to inspection by government agencies.

    My simple recommendation? (As has also been mentioned elsewhere), use GPG, PHP, or some other form of encryption.. While not a perfect solution, it should prove adequate to the majority of end-user privacy needs. Waiting for the government or a free internet email provider to protect your privacy is not unlike waiting for a burglar to return your stolen property.

    1. Re:A simple recommendation. by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      use GPG, PHP, or some other form of encryption.

      When I want to REALLY encrypt my email, I write it in Perl. Even better than obfuscated C. I'd use lisp but I want the recipient to be able to read it.

  13. s/PHP/PGP by mmell · · Score: 1

    Damned Android auto-correct.

    1. Re:s/PHP/PGP by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      I did not think anything on this thread would make me laugh harder than the shanen/Ob/raymorris interaction, but I was wrong.

  14. Email and your new acoustically coupled modem by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    The option of keeping a lot of email on a server for a long time due to the acoustically coupled modem limitations needed legal protection.
    In 2017 your ISP email account is as legal protected as your home computer with all its files....
    Email kept only at home on a computer, email that stayed on an ISP or server for years or just been networked along day or hours later. Email later found on some server when the server was under investigation with valid court paperwork for the server, accounts.
    The other aspect is email on the move along the pipes and tubes of a providers network. Can a police charity public/private partnership scan every email and attachment to see if every file, link was under investigation by law enforcement or might be of interest to law enforcement in real time?
    If that file was on a server for days or years or just moving from an account to another internet user?
    Now all emails are been scanned at the server level anyway by different agencies globally for a lot of different reasons.
    Police charity public/private partnerships will still have the server side real time scans of all files.

    An easy FISA warrant or NSL will still get in, then allowing for legal, local domestic legal work.
    The FISA warrant or NSL won't be used in a domestic court setting but if every US provider is in some way connected to other nations why not collect it all...
    With new raw data sharing rules, domestic agencies will get all that raw bulk data, no more minimisation for domestic US users.
    So new domestic privacy laws are great but as many other domestic agencies are now getting raw real time data ....???
    NSA to share data with other agencies without “minimizing” American information (1/13/2017)
    https://arstechnica.com/tech-p...

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  15. Sad state of slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Once upon a time slashdot would have rejoiced at news like this. The notion that privacy is serious and given precedence- celebrated. Now we have page after page of politics, and drivel about this not being good enough. This is a win. Requiring warrants is as good as it gets. Be happy.

  16. Re: Public masturbation of 2726007 by shanen · · Score: 2

    Z^1

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  17. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by shanen · · Score: 2

    Z^2

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  18. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by shanen · · Score: 2

    Z^3

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  19. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by shanen · · Score: 2

    Z^4

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  20. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by shanen · · Score: 2

    Z^5

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  21. It's about power by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Yeah, somehow busts the myth that Republicans are against privacy and for an intrusive law enforcement all in the name of security

    What myth? That's not even a debate. They ARE against privacy and support intrusive law enforcement. Many democrats are as well. That has a lot more to do with people in power wanting to retain that power than it does with any given political persuasion. Republicans have zero concern for your privacy if money can be made from it or political power (including policing) can be derived from stepping on it. Democrats have somewhat different motivations and tactics but the effect on your privacy tends to be similar in the end.

    The only thing really protecting your privacy and keeping police away is that the two parties cannot agree on the details. When they do agree on the details we get idiotic outcomes like the TSA or the Department of Homeland Security.

    1. Re:It's about power by unixisc · · Score: 2

      Honestly, the party is split on this. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, among others, are Libertarian leaning, while Little Marco is all for an intrusive government. Trump - well, after the leaks as well as the 'dossier', is probably against privacy violations as well, even if he supports it for national security exemptions

  22. Expecting others to secure you privacy by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Let me illustrate by example of how Gmail could work. There could be an option to store the email on our own computers. Generous as the google is with their storage allocation, I have way more than that in my OWN physical possession and I could, if allowed, possess my own email there.

    There IS an option to store your email on your own computer. There always has been. That option didn't go away just because Gmail came along. Gmail is a choice, not a requirement.

    If the google actually valued my privacy, they could throw in an option to encrypt the email end-to-end, even while it is on their servers.

    Expecting an advertising company to value your privacy is an idiotic thing to do. Nobody is going to value your privacy more than you do. If it matters to you then take measures to secure it. The tools exist and have for a long time. If you use Gmail that is a tacit admission that you don't care so much about the privacy of whatever is sent through that email account.

    1. Re:Expecting others to secure you privacy by shanen · · Score: 1

      Think I mostly agree with you, though there are some nits that could be picked. However, right now I am in the process of putting my Slashdot affairs in order for another hiatus, perhaps permanent, so this is basically a boilerplate response drafted for the pending replies.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  23. Securing not posessing is the issue by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Uhhhh, the entire purpose of email is to send it to other people. Perhaps hundreds of other people. How do you retrain [sic] possession of something you must distribute to others for it to be of any value?

    True but perhaps the wrong question. The important question to my mind is how do you secure the message (legally and/or technologically) against intrusive snooping by the government and perhaps others? Both in transit and in storage. Not an easy question to answer and I think the legal piece of it is very important and somewhat behind the technology.

    1. Re:Securing not posessing is the issue by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      The important question to my mind is how do you secure the message (legally and/or technologically) against intrusive snooping by the government and perhaps others? Both in transit and in storage. Not an easy question to answer ...

      Really? Two answers have already appeared here. Run your own server (so you control your local store), and/or encryption. Neither is that hard.

      and I think the legal piece of it is very important and somewhat behind the technology.

      Technological problems do not need legal solutions. Use the technology that already exists and you don't need "just one more law" to make your life perfect.

  24. This never would have happened with Obama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This never would have happened with Obama

    1. Re: This never would have happened with Obama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They tried, but the senate stopped it. If you read TFS you would have known that. But this is slashdot so just keep spouting whatever pops in your head. Hillary for prison!!! Am I right? Right? Alt right?

  25. Special Interest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The GOP passes a special interest bill to cover their business buddies. Nothing new there.

  26. Pointless Grandstanding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HOUSE: "We will pass a law that requires law enforcement agencies to get a "warrant" to access emails."
    SENATE: "Okay."
    HOUSE: (whispering) "You're supposed to say no. Remember? We don't really want this, we just want to "look" like we want it."
    SENATE: (whispering) "But then we'll look like a-holes."
    HOUSE: (still whispering) "Look, next month you can propose something good and we will vote it down. Okay?"
    SENATE: "Can it be something on women's rights?"
    HOUSE: "Yes. Whatever."
    SENATE (clears throat) "We mean absolutely not. We would never let this law pass." (snickers).
    COURTS: (leaning I from behind a curtain and whispering) "You know we totally would have granted anyone a warrant who asked. Just saying."
    DOJ: (also leaning in) "And we just ask for permission. We get it anyway."

  27. It's not reason to rejoice by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    Doesn't mean a thing until / unless passed by the senate and signed by the president. If the president won't sign, then there is yet another process to go through.

    So while yes, this isn't a bad thing as it stands, it is not yet a good thing.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  28. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 2

    what's the problem with you?

    you keep posting this 'z' bullshit.

    what the fuck??

    (are you a child or brain damaged? or both?)

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  29. Government vs private by sjbe · · Score: 0

    Honestly, the party is split on this. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, among others

    The only differences are whether they think the government should step on your neck or whether private industry should serve that role. The old school republicans tend to be in the former camp while the so-called libertarian wing tends to be in the later but there isn't a bright line between the camps. Both of them are perfectly happy to sacrifice your privacy and civil rights any time they think they can gain political power and frankly it's kind of a distinction without a difference since they tend to vote in lock-step anyway.

  30. Re: Public masturbation of 592200 by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

    What's even more WTF is that someone keeps modding him up for it.

  31. yeah but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Republicans can haz trade security for privacy: Republicans can haz hatred of safety

    Republicans can haz trade privacy for security: Republicans can haz hatred of your rights.

  32. Congrats, you clearly illustrated his point, while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    apparently being totally oblivious to the irony.

    The guy was NOT threatening 4 more years of Trump (but clearly your partisan hackery took you directly to that whacko assumption). The guy was trying to point out that this sort of garbage was a large contributor to the energizing of the people who turned-out to vote for Trump and that continuing down the same toxic partisan path which the left are doing with great reckless abandon will only serve to further energize those Trump supporters.

    Keep it up, fuzzball.

  33. Re: Public masturbation of 4512999 by shanen · · Score: 1

    Z^6

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  34. Re: Public masturbation of ? by shanen · · Score: 1

    Z^7

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.