Victory! EFF Wins Appeal for Access to Wiretap Application Records:
Imagine learning that you were wiretapped by law enforcement, but couldn't get any information about why. That's what happened to retired California Highway Patrol officer Miguel Guerrero, and EFF sued on his behalf to get more information about the surveillance. This week, a California appeals court ruled in his case that people who are targets of wiretaps are entitled to inspect the wiretap materials, including the order application and intercepted communications, if a judge finds that such access would be in the interests of justice. This is a huge victory for transparency and accountability in California courts.
[...] When we first went to court, the judge ruled that targets of wiretaps can unseal the wiretap application and order only by proving "good cause" for disclosure. The court then found that neither Guerrero's desire to pursue a civil action nor the grossly disproportionate volume of wiretaps established good cause for disclosure, commenting that the number of wiretaps was "nothing more than routine." The court further rejected our argument that the public has a First Amendment right of access to the wiretap order and application.
We appealed, and the Court of Appeal agreed that the trial court erred. The appeals court made clear that, under California law, the target of a wiretap need not show good cause. Instead, the target of a wiretap need only demonstrate that disclosure of the wiretap order and application is "in the interest of justice"—which unlike the good cause standard, does not include any presumption of secrecy.
[...] The case now returns to the trial court, where the judge must apply the Court of Appeal's analysis. We hope Mr. Guerrero will finally get some answers.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Friday October 23 2020, @07:50PM (4 children)
This situation is absurd.
When I technically find am a victim of a wiretap, I cannot differentiate if the wiretap is done by legals or by criminals. A criminal may imitate a legal wiretap design too.
It is in my self interest to unlink or destroy the wiretap immediately, because my life, life of my loved ones or my property may be in danger if kept in place.
So, I would honor and respect a legal wiretap of me if and only if I am informed about it by official notice.
Justice designed by criminals is not a justice.
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday October 23 2020, @09:10PM (3 children)
I understand the police's problem: If the target of the wiretap knows about the wiretap, then they won't use the wiretapped system to commit whatever crime the cops are investigating, which eliminates the value of the wiretap.
However, where this all breaks down is if the wiretap can be done by the cops without a judge's approval. And I don't mean "can be legally done", I mean "can be done at all". Because as long as the cops can engage in illegal surveillance, at least some of them will, e.g. wiretapping their ex. And while the courts can lay the legal smackdown on using any evidence from illegal surveillance in courts, they don't have any way of doing that to illegal surveillance that nobody outside the police force even knows about.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 23 2020, @11:39PM (1 child)
Meanwhile, corporations race to provide facial recognition, gait recognition, voice recognition, DNA analysis, internet surveillance, and so much more that we won't even hear of until it's too late. Those faux cell towers are really working out great, along with all the military hardware being given or sold to the police. Corporate America develops all that shit, and sells it to the police, all the while hoping that no one exposes them until after the sales are complete. Wire taps are just the tip of an iceberg here.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Saturday October 24 2020, @02:32PM
Something us techy types can actually do, though: These companies can't make that kind of tech without engineers designing it. So don't work for the companies producing this stuff if you want your own hands to be clean.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:07AM
If it is data, does wiretap law even apply anymore? Under the Patriot Act, data was not considered to require a warrant. I recall something recently about some provisions of the Patriot Act being sunset'd out recently. Not sure if that part was included.
--The bible belt wants elect a guy who commits adultery with porn stars, and the DNC's best guy doesn't have the legs to go eight years. In what world _doesn't_ that look like a conspiracy?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 24 2020, @02:46AM
Everything is wiretapped. Houses, apartments, condos, duplexes, tri-plexes, hotels, motels, you-name-it. Anyplace that a human can reside in, it gets wiretapped, one way or the other. Wiretaps are considered a necessary part of modern infrastructure.