On Point blog, page 1 of 1
COA reverses suppression in state’s appeal, holds no reasonable expectation of privacy in video uploaded to Snapchat
State v. Michael Joseph Gasper, 2023AP2319, 10/30/24, District 2 (recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
The circuit court held that an officer’s warrantless inspection of a cyber tip digital video file provided to the officer and identified as child pornography by a private internet service provider constituted an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The COA concludes that Gasper did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the video, which he uploaded to Snapchat in violation of the terms of service and reverses.
Defendant consented to search and had no expectation of privacy in files put on P2P file sharing network
State v. Ronald Lee Baric, 2018 WI App 63; case activity (including briefs)
Police failed to read Baric his Miranda rights, but the court of appeals still found that he consented to a search of his computer. It also resolved a 4th Amendment issue of first impression for Wisconsin: a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in files he offers for download on a P2P file sharing network.
SCOTUS will decide whether Microsoft has to provide emails sought under warrant when the emails are stored overseas
United States v. Microsoft Corp., USSC No. 17-2, certiorari granted 10/16/17
Whether a United States provider of email services must comply with a probable-cause-based warrant issued under 18 U.S.C. § 2703 by making disclosure in the United States of electronic communications within that provider’s control, even if the provider has decided to store that material abroad.
Subpoenas to internet service providers didn’t violate Fourth Amendment
United States v. Frank Caira, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-1003, 2016 WL 4376472, 8/17/16
During a drug investigation the government issued subpoenas to two internet service providers—Microsoft, the owner of Hotmail, and Comcast the owner of an Internet Protocol address associated with the Hotmail address being investigated. The subpoenas provided information that led investigators to Caira. (Slip op. at 2-4). His claim that the subpoenas amounted to unreasonable warrantless searches is rejected because voluntarily sharing the information with the internet providers meant Caira had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the information.
Accessing email is a search under the Jones trespass test
So held the 10th Circuit in U.S. v. Ackerman last week. The case “considers how the Fourth Amendment applies to a child pornography detection system set up by Internet service providers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).” In a post “for serious 4th Amendment nerds” Orin Kerr pokes holes in the court’s analysis and discusses the deepening circuit split over this issue.
Defendant had no expectation of privacy in text messages he sent to another person
State v. Ryan H. Tentoni, 2015 WI App 77; case activity (including briefs)
Tentoni does not have an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in the text messages delivered to another person’s phone and therefore can’t seek to suppress the text messages and other subsequently obtained phone records as fruit of the government’s illegal search of the phone.