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A federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled that the user of any computer that connects to the Internet should not have an expectation of privacy because computer security is ineffectual at stopping hackers.
"Hacking is much more prevalent now than it was even nine years ago, and the rise of computer hacking via the Internet has changed the public's reasonable expectations of privacy," the judge 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."
The judge argued that the FBI did not even need the original warrant to use the NIT [Network Investigative technique/Toolkit] against visitors to PlayPen, a hidden service on the Tor network that acted as a hub for child exploitation.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 02 2016, @10:41AM
Well, what this really says is the police can try to break into your computer. Much like they can try to break down your door. There's nothing stopping you from having a foot thick oak door with hinges as big as your wrist though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @11:39AM
There's nothing stopping you from having a foot thick oak door with hinges as big as your wrist though.
You forget how much excess military equipment has been given to the police to "counter threats of terrorism". Since there is no actual threat of terrorism, they keep using their new toys whenever they get even a smallest excuse. A foot thick oak door is a great excuse (as you are obviously hiding something) to get out an MRAP [wikipedia.org] and a few bazookas.
If the police can't kick your door down, they'll just flatten your entire house. Well, sometimes they'll flatten it [imgur.com] just because they're scared of a shoplifter [techdirt.com]...
Ain't police state fun (for the police)?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 03 2016, @11:22AM
Well at least there was someone in there for the "brave boys in blue" to be scared of unlike this case:
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/melinda-de-la-torre-raid/ [policestateusa.com]
A SWAT team spent hours firing “mortars, grenades, and teargas canisters” at an empty home. The 4-hour siege destroyed windows, doors, and walls and left the home in ruin. The suspect didn’t even live at the address, and the innocent homeowner was left homeless for months and ultimately was stuck with over $100,000 in repair bills, which the responsible parties have refused to pay.
I'll say it again, the big problem in the US is too many of your cops are cowards. I'm a coward too, but at least I don't go around pretending to be a cop. If you're that scared to put your life at risk you should not be a cop, you'd be a danger to yourself and everyone else. And you'll just make things worse.
Same for soldiers.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @04:03PM
... unless your oak door is on a house in certain States, such as Oklahoma and apparently Illinois.
http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/2010/08/30/heres-a-slippery-slope-if-ever-there-was-one/ [disclosurenewsonline.com]
I'm not supporting the criminal police state by pointing this out, rather showing that if you try to actually secure your home that some cops will try to throw you in a cage for that nowadays, along with everything else. this is all very similar to "speeding", in which case cops have been told by "judges" that they can use the threat of lethal force to arrest (pull over, detain, stop) and search people and their possessions for going even 1mph over the speed limit, 5mph under the speed limit (e.g. likely EXACTLY the speed limit as the in-car speedometer was likely to have read), and if not now then soon for going exactly and precisely the speed limit as it is "all suspicious".
At the core of all this is: if I can't kidnap a person and throw them in a cage for merely driving at any arbitrary speed of my choosing, neither can I delegate that authority to anyone else. Government is just another word for a criminal gang.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @07:11PM
Just to be sure, use one of these [wikipedia.org]!