Is There a Need for Legislative Updates to Electronic Privacy Protection Laws?

American Legislator ^ | 4-22-15 | Jonathon Hauenschild

[ThethoughtsofGreg]

Long gone are the days when law enforcement surveillance meant officers with cameras standing on corners wearing trench coats, hats and sunglasses. Now law enforcement can use thermal imaging cameras from drones, intercept cell phone calls and even track personal information through cell phones.

Advances in technology, perceptions that law enforcement officials may operate on the boundaries of the law and new community privacy expectations seem to beg for legislative updates to outdated interpretations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

There is a need to balance an individual’s constitutional rights with law enforcement’s goal to prevent and investigate crimes. Perhaps it is time for states to consider legislation reinforcing law enforcement’s ability to use technology in criminal investigations, while that legislation also protects the privacy of residents.

[wildbill]

The infrared devices can not only locate the rooms where there are people, they can image the bodies making love.

Is this an invasion of privacy? That’s a trick question.

[BCW]

If the communication is meant to be private. Then it should be protected. The same argument could be said a out postal mail...where the govt could open a yokes mail search through it...and if nothing is found illegal...see it and send it.

Unless stated explicitly, “No expectation of privacy” as seen on govt computer systems or one signs an agreement to monitoring....then the digital world is like the paper world....IMHO...without laws and the respect of said laws....we crumble....just like we are under Barry...

[MeganC]

Looks to me like there’s some business opportunities for people who want to make products to shield homes and businesses from thermal imaging and police surveillance.

[RedStateRocker]

No warrant - no surveillance. Technology is going to change, both what the bad guys and the good guys have access to. The principles should NOT change: there is not and can never be a reason to ignore the restrictions the Founding Fathers put on governmental activity: go before a judge and explain what info you expect to get, why you think you will get it and how you will go about it.

[Svartalfiar]

The infrared devices can not only locate the rooms where there are people, they can image the bodies making love.

Sigh, I hope you aren't serious with that? There is no IR device that can do such a thing, unless you're making sweet love on the roof or in the truck bed. IR can't see through walls (or glass!) at all.

[Svartalfiar]

Looks to me like there’s some business opportunities for people who want to make products to shield homes and businesses from thermal imaging and police surveillance.

Your house is already 'shielded' from thermal imaging. All they can see is the outside of your house, and which parts are hotter or colder (IR is a great way to find the air leaks where you have poor insulation), and can't see through glass at all.

[wildbill]

you may be right, but the FLIR manufacturers advertise they can spot heat sources within walls.

[The Antiyuppie]

“No warrant - no surveillance. “

That just about says it all, doesn’t it? Because no one seems to follow the laws and Constitution and they stand now, how will making more laws “help”? Basically, as window dressing.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Your house is already ‘shielded’ from thermal imaging. All they can see is the outside of your house, and which parts are hotter or colder (IR is a great way to find the air leaks where you have poor insulation), and can’t see through glass at all.”

True, but super-high frequency radar can, and that technology has already been commercialized. Just a matter of time and price before anyone can use it.

[Svartalfiar]

you may be right, but the FLIR manufacturers advertise they can spot heat sources within walls.

You can, because the heat source heats up the wall, and the FLIR can see the heat difference of the wall. A hot water pipe will show as a line running down the house. A body in a room is invisible. If you look at a water tower, you can actually see the water level because the air and water heat the walls at different temps, especially on a sunny day.

I'd post a picture of a house, but a quick Google search doesn't find much. Any color in IR images is false added, it's a black/white image. Color is added as after-processing.

[wildbill]

so the popular image of swat teams being able to locate persons within buildings is all fiction?

[Svartalfiar]

so the popular image of swat teams being able to locate persons within buildings is all fiction?

Pretty much. They may use cameras in the building, or can make reasonable guesses based on blueprints, but the technology to actually see where people are in a building isn't something most departments have, as it's mostly still developmental. And that technology definitely isn't FLIR devices. Someone else mentioned high-freq radar, or some cell phone detectors can make good guesses as well.

I'm in the military, and my unit has several IR devices, from small weapons sights to the big LRAS system. IR looks at heat radiation, and a person's heat is absorbed by the walls/windows, is doesn't go through them. All you see is the heat signature from the outside wall/window itself. The lens on the LRAS isn't glass, it's some special translucent material that also happens to be slightly radioactive. That IR radiation can go through.