In a court ruling that impacts upon the privacy of American internet users, a federal appeals court ruled that no warrant is necessary for internet surveillance:

“Federal agents do not need a search warrant to monitor a suspect’s computer use and determine the e-mail addresses and Web pages the suspect is contacting, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

…In Friday’s ruling, the court said computer users should know that they lose privacy protections with e-mail and Web site addresses when they are communicated to the company whose equipment carries the messages.”

link: Judges OK warrantless monitoring of Web use

Compared to other countries, this ruling allows the government to have unprecedented access to people’s personal online activities. There is no expectation of privacy for American internet users - and the government does not have to justify investigating and conducting surveillance on any citizen on the internet.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]court ruling, privacy, internet, warrant, surveillance, expectation of privacy[/tags]