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Judge says the FBI can hack your computer without a warrant
Endgadget ^ | June 24, 2016 | By Jessica Conditt

Posted on 06/25/2016 9:30:05 AM PDT by Swordmaker

'Computers accessing the internet can -- and eventually will -- be hacked,' says Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.

The FBI did not need a warrant to hack a US citizen's computer, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday by Senior US District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. If the decision is upheld, it may have ripple effects that essentially allow government agencies to remotely search and seize information from any computer in the US without a warrant, probable cause or suspicion, the EFF argues.

The ruling relates to a worldwide FBI sting dubbed Operation Pacifier that targeted child pornography sites on anonymity networks such as Tor. The FBI deployed hacking tools across computers in the US, Chile, Denmark and Greece, and caught 1,500 pedophiles on the Dark Web. As part of Operation Pacifier, authorities briefly seized and continued running a server that hosted the child pornography site Playpen, meanwhile deploying a hacking tool known internally as a network investigative technique. The NIT collected roughly 1,500 IP addresses of visitors to the site.

Judge Morgan, Jr. wrote on Tuesday that the FBI's actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects US citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. "The Court finds that no Fourth Amendment violation occurred here because the government did not need a warrant to capture Defendant's IP address" and other information from the suspect's computer, he wrote.

"Generally, one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in an IP address when using the internet," Morgan, Jr. said. "Even an internet user who employs the Tor network in an attempt to mask his or her IP address lacks a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her IP address."

Basically, the judge argued, computers are hacked every day and no one should expect privacy while operating online.

"The rise of computer hacking via the internet has changed the public's reasonable expectations of privacy," he wrote. "Now, it seems unreasonable to think that a computer connected to the web is immune from invasion. Indeed, the opposite holds true: In today's digital world, it appears to be a virtual certainty that computers accessing the internet can -- and eventually will -- be hacked."

A Massachusetts court previously threw out evidence gathered by the FBI in one Playpen case, ruling that the operation relied on an invalid warrant. The bureau has moved to keep its NIT software classified, citing national security concerns if it were made public.

In April, the Supreme Court upheld the FBI's proposed changes to Rule 41, allowing judges to approve remote access to suspects' computers that fall outside their jurisdiction. Under the new rules, a judge in New York can authorize hacking a computer in Alaska, for example. A bipartisan Senate bill called the Stop Mass Hacking Act aims to block these expanded powers. There's a similar bill making its way through the House of Representatives, as well, according to Reuters. Congress has until December 1st to reject or amend the Supreme Court's ruling -- if it doesn't, the changes to Rule 41 will take effect as planned.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: applepinglist; bigbrother; fbi; hacking; henrycokemorganjr; nannystate; nsa; policestate; privacy; rinos; surveillancestate
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1 posted on 06/25/2016 9:30:05 AM PDT by Swordmaker
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To: Swordmaker

Freedom in America? Ha Ha Ha. Going Going Going Gone by dribble.


2 posted on 06/25/2016 9:33:40 AM PDT by Logical me
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To: Swordmaker

Bush1 appointee.. 1992


3 posted on 06/25/2016 9:33:56 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: Swordmaker

Trickle down dictatorship!!!


4 posted on 06/25/2016 9:34:50 AM PDT by Don Corleone (Oil the gun, eat the cannolis, take it to the mattress.)
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To: Swordmaker

Can I hack into a government computer and download their stuff? How about a bank’s computer?

If not, why not? They have no reasonable expectation of privacy.


5 posted on 06/25/2016 9:35:41 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The official language of the United States should be Arabic. It's clear that our government is.)
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To: Swordmaker

Do games and internet on one computer and anything important on another not on line.


6 posted on 06/25/2016 9:36:15 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: Swordmaker

They need a warrant to tap my phone but not my computer? Venezuela here we come.


7 posted on 06/25/2016 9:36:23 AM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Swordmaker
The FBI did not need a warrant to hack a US citizen's computer, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday by Senior US District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.

Do this judge's first. Put some kiddie porn on it.

8 posted on 06/25/2016 9:36:37 AM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: Swordmaker

“Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example...If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”

— Justice Louis D. Brandeis, from his dissent in “Olmstead v. United States”, 277 U.S. 438, 485 (1928)


9 posted on 06/25/2016 9:36:50 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Swordmaker

I was under the impression that Windows 10 erased all privacy.


10 posted on 06/25/2016 9:36:54 AM PDT by abclily
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To: Logical me

I don’t have anything to hide, so why should I Worry? Riiiight...


11 posted on 06/25/2016 9:37:11 AM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magnus Conservatus)
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Obama complained that the Constitution was a document of “negative rights,” because it limited what the government could do.

Obama’s solution? Ignore the Constitution, but he really doesn’t need to, what with judges like this.

Mark


12 posted on 06/25/2016 9:38:40 AM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: abclily

It does, but Microsoft is not the government.


13 posted on 06/25/2016 9:39:02 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Wisdom is doing due diligence before forming an opinion)
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To: dayglored; ShadowAce; ThunderSleeps; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; Abundy; Action-America; ...
US Federal Judge rules that FBI does not need a warrant to hack into your computer and search it remotely. . . because you do not have an expectation of privacy because hackers can hack into it. Isn't that the same as ruling you don't have an expectation of being safe in your house from government intrusion without a warrant because burglars and other criminals can break in and rifle through your papers? Uh, yeah, it is. — PING!


Judge Rules Expectation of Computer Privacy
Does Not Exist!
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

14 posted on 06/25/2016 9:39:54 AM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue..)
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To: Logical me

Gone with the creation of the EPA and OSHA - thank Nixon. No dribbles remain only illusions.


15 posted on 06/25/2016 9:42:14 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Swordmaker

Big brother is always watching. Not a surprise.


16 posted on 06/25/2016 9:45:03 AM PDT by GuavaCheesePuff
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"The rise of computer hacking via the internet has changed the public's reasonable expectations of privacy," he wrote. "Now, it seems unreasonable to think that a computer connected to the web is immune from invasion. Indeed, the opposite holds true: In today's digital world, it appears to be a virtual certainty that computers accessing the internet can -- and eventually will -- be hacked."

This is akin to a judge ruling that because some people who know how to use lockpicks can break into your house, you have no reasonable expectation that locks will keep people out of your home, so government agents can just break into your home any time, on their slightest whim.

The fact is that if someone has gone to the trouble to attempt to be secure on the Internet, then the government, with it's unlimited resources, must NOT be allowed to "hack" into systems without a warrant.

The simple fact is that governments, given their resources, are far more capable than the vast majority of "script kiddies" who do most of the hacking. And this judge just gave them the go-ahead.

Mark

17 posted on 06/25/2016 9:47:38 AM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: Swordmaker

Well, now we have the latest release of the US government’s “privacy policy”. The old version, issued in 1789, is no longer in effect.


18 posted on 06/25/2016 9:48:14 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hey now baby, get into my big black car, I just want to show you what my politics are.)
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To: Swordmaker
"The rise of computer hacking via the internet has changed the public's reasonable expectations of privacy," he wrote. "Now, it seems unreasonable to think that a computer connected to the web is immune from invasion. Indeed, the opposite holds true: In today's digital world, it appears to be a virtual certainty that computers accessing the internet can -- and eventually will -- be hacked."

Homes are broken in to everyday, no one should have the expectation that their home and property are safe. No one should expect that their property is theirs.

Hacking is illegal. What is illegal for and individual is illegal for government.

Just because my computer is connected to the internet does not put contents of my computer in the public domain. My computer is still in my home and my home and its contents are immune from unreasonable search and seizure.

It the FBI wants to search my computer they need a warrant.

19 posted on 06/25/2016 9:49:01 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: gigster
I don’t have anything to hide, so why should I Worry? Riiiight...

Don't have an Internet sight, too old. But your right freedom is on the way out.

20 posted on 06/25/2016 9:49:50 AM PDT by Logical me
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