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IRS, Like Rest of Government, Thinks Warrants Are Silly
FOIA Data Suggests IRS Snoops Your E-mail Without Them

According to documents obtained by the ACLU after a FOIA request, the IRS currently operates under the belief that they can freely snoop through citizen e-mail accounts without obtaining warrants, something a 2010 Appeals court ruling (United States v. Warshak) claimed violated the Fourth Amendment.

"The documents the ACLU obtained make clear that, before Warshak, it was the policy of the IRS to read people’s email without getting a warrant," states the ACLU. "Not only that, but the IRS believed that the Fourth Amendment did not apply to email at all."

The ACLU assumes (probably accurately given the last decade or two of government behavior) that the IRS hasn't bothered to change their behavior or protocols after the Warshak ruling, and should clarify publicly whether they think warrants are necessary or, like much of the government, a silly and unnecessary diversion.

Most recommended from 21 comments



tuaris
You Clicked on the Apple
join:2001-10-19
Naples, FL

3 recommendations

tuaris

Member

It's becuase the data is held by a 3rd party

What most people do not realize is that the 4th amendments does not protect you if the data being obtained is held by a 3rd party. This makes cloud storage services very dangerous, since by putting your data on it you are giving up all your rights under the 4th amendment. If you keep the data in a server that you own and operate, your are protected.

Many business have been shifting from having there own server to utilizing 3rd party cloud services, not realizing the ramifications of "saving money".

For the individual it's a different story. Most people don't have the resources to run there own server and if they want to use email, cloud storage, remote backup, etc.. they have to understand that whatever information stored is not protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The 4th amendment needs to be updated to include information held by a 3rd party, but I doubt that will ever happen with today's government.