One of the latest stories making the photography website rounds lately deals with a ruling out of New York relating to application of the 4th Amendment in regards to documents stored online.
Some of the sites are saying the Judge ruled that the 4th Amendment does not apply to documents stored online. This isn't an accurate portrayal of the decision.
The judge ruled that the warrant served to Microsoft applied to documents stored on servers located outside the U.S. The argument seems to have little to due with whether a warrant was needed or not to obtain the documents in question as the Government obtained a warrant for the records in question.
Instead, the case seems to revolve around the scope of the warrant. Microsoft's contention is that the U.S. Government has no authority to search the server where the emails are stored because it is located outside its jurisdiction.
The Judge disagreed, holding the warrant applied no matter where the electronic files were stored. (He also held that companies could not refuse to comply with these types of warrants.)
The frightening part of the decision stems from the Government's argument that there was no foreign search involved, despite the server being located in Ireland.
The fact that the U.S. Government (successfully) argued that accessing emails stored on a server physically located in another country did not involve a foreign search is astonishing. Searching an email server in another country is as much a foreign search as searching that person's actual mail box.
It gets worse when you realize that there is an existing avenue available for obtaining evidence that is located in another country and in this case, the country where the email server is located is one that is willing to cooperate when it comes to American law enforcement efforts.
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