You have no privacy on the Internet - if you're in Pennsylvania

As reported in EPIC Alert vol 11.02

A SUPREME COURT: INTERNET USERS CONSENT TO MONITORING

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has held that an individual using the Internet should reasonably expect that his communications are monitored by police. In Commonwealth v. Proetto, a man convicted of soliciting a teenage girl on the Internet argued that it was illegal for law enforcement officers to monitor his Internet communications without a warrant. Though the court chose not to issue an opinion, it ruled in favor the police, finding that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on the Internet and that the police did not break Pennsylvania's wiretap law when they monitored the man's online communications.

Lower court opinion in Commonwealth v. Proetto

Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Concurring statement of Justice Newman

Encryption, anyone?


Written by Andrew Ittner in misc on Sun 22 February 2004. Tags: government, technology