LoJack interception declared wiretap under ECPA

An Ohio district court recently found that using LoJack software to gain remote access to a stole computer may violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). In Clements-Jeffrey v. City of Springfield, Ohio, 2011 WL 3678397 (S.D. Ohio 2011), the school district was being sued for violation of the ECPA. After learning that the laptop was stolen, recover officers began to intercept email, record keystrokes, and capture screen shots. Ultimately,...

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NY Bar releases best practices guide for E-Discovery

The New York State Bar Association recently released a best practices guide (PDF available here) to help practitioners better understand this often murky area. The guide is particularly helpful with regard to the form in which electronically stored information (ESI) should be produced as well as the steps a party should go through in a search for documents within a discovery reque...

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9th finds evidence of sexual abuse not related to CP

A search warrant was executed on Dougherty's home seeking evidence of child pornography. The only evidence demonstrated by law enforcement in its showing of probable cause was evidence of the suspect's attempted child molestation charge. The officer stated that in his experience, the two were connected. However, the Ninth Circuit found that probable cause did not exist. But because the issue is a circuit split, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity. The case is Dougherty v. City of Covina, 654 F.3d 892 (9th Cir. 2011). The Second...

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911 to accept text messages, pictures, and video

The FCC announced a five-step plan to ultimately support acceptance of "emergency-related voice, text, data, photos, and video." But first, they plan to enable automatic retrieval of location data. The benefits of this plan are profound. Suppose hostage victims are able to text but not make a phone call. Rather than having to send a text to a friend or family member to have it relayed, they can correspond directly with 911 - even sending pictures...

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Cell site data denied to help execute arrest warrant

The government was denied cell site location information that would have helped it execute an arrest warrant because it was protected by the Fourth Amendment and not considered "electronic communication" under the SCA. In re United States ex rel. an Order Authorizing Disclosure of Location Information of a Specified Wireless Telephone, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85638 (D. Md. 2011). The court first analyzed the Fourth Amendment argument, finding that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their location and movement. Thus, a...

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SNS printout authentication attempt struck down

In State v. Eleck, 23 A.3d 818 (Conn. App. Ct. 2011), the defense sought admission of a Facebook messaging conversation between the defendant and a witness for the prosecution. The witness admitted that the messages were sent to her account, but she was not the author. Rather, her account had been hacked. The defendant claims that he was removed as the witness's Facebook friend days later, but the witness claims she still did not have access to her...

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