Starting Today, Feds Can Hack Millions Of Devices With One Warrant

Zero Hedge ^ | 12/01/16 | Tyler Durden

[Enlightened1]

On Thursday, December 1, a vital Supreme Court order is set to go into effect that dramatically expands the surveillance power of federal agents.The impending alteration to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure softens the legal requirements for obtaining search and seizure warrants that grant the government remote access to individual’s computers and phones.

In the past, law enforcement was required to obtain a warrant from a judge within the jurisdiction where the proposed search was going take place.Under this new system, however, if an individual is using technology to conceal their location, the warrant is considered valid regardless of jurisdiction. A single authorization will have the potential to validate millions of searches on private devices. Any journalist, activist, or whistleblower who values privacy and uses tools like Freenet or the Tor network will fall directly into the crosshairs.

As USA Today summarized, the rule change was “sought by the Justice Department, adopted by the U.S. Federal Courts, and approved on April 28 by the Supreme Court without much fanfare.”

These changes have been on the fast track since the FBI had evidence thrown out in a recent child pornography case. The defendant was using the Tor network to conceal his IP address and operating a child pornography site known as Playpen. The Department of Justice and FBI refused to disclose the legal process used to gain access to the evidence, likely because they did not follow proper legal protocols. As a result, at least some of their evidence was rejected by the court.

[Enlightened1]

[Iron Munro]

This is what libtards mean when they brag that they are “inclusive”.

Everyone included in one warrant.

[rktman]

Powering down in 3.....2...... Oh crap. I’m on FR so they already know all about me. Never mind.

[spintreebob]

if an individual is using technology to conceal their location

All internet, all cell phones inherently conceal a person’s location.

[Terry L Smith]

(yawn)

ALL of my informnation back before 1980 that was on the federal databases in OPM and DoD, has already been hacked.

All of my information that has been on Yahoo has already been hacked.

I do not use Microsoft products, so all my ‘stuff’, is either video, RTFs, or PDFs. (I’m retired, so since no one pays me to be Microsoft savvy, I don’t use it.)

Were Hillary elected to POTUS (Hmmm, replace ‘President’ with ‘cat”, oh wait, we already did that!), I would be scared.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Even with this new sweeping power, I doubt that they can arrest and prosecute the likes of Hildebeast. So what is the point other than messing with ordinary people?

[refermech]

Maybe they can hack muzzie phones.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yeah, small-fry muzzies, cannon fodder types, but not the big ones such as Saudi/Qatari royals who finance them.

Sometimes I laugh at news reports on new high-tech weapons, new surveillance programs. So what? You can't beat Political Correctness. It is not the lack of resources, but the lack of will which is the problem.

[refermech]

I hope Trump sets the Saudis and others straight on day one. You finance terror in any way and we are coming to get your oil.

[BipolarBob]

All internet, all cell phones inherently conceal a person’s location.

All internet, all cell phones inherently reveal a person’s location.

[spintreebob]

They might reveal an ip address that is associated with a geo address. But that is not the address of the person. And I question whether the alleged geo address of some ip addresses is for real.