No E-Mail Searches Without Warrants, Federal Judge Says

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that e-mail users have a reasonable expectation that their stored e-mail will be as private as a telephone call.

By K.C. Jones
InformationWeek
Jun 19, 2007 05:20 PM

Government investigators cannot obtain and search e-mail stored by e-mail service providers unless they have a warrant, according to a new court ruling.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that e-mail users have a reasonable expectation that their stored e-mail will be as private as a telephone call. The court issued the ruling Monday.

The government has routinely obtained stored e-mail from service providers without a warrant, citing the Stored Communications Act. The court found that the practice violates the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment. continued →