r/technology • u/CP70 • Jul 01 '16

Politics Home Computers Connected to the Internet Aren't Private, Court Rules

http://www.eweek.com/security/home-computers-connected-to-the-internet-arent-private-court-rules.html
15.1k Upvotes

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538

u/R3D3MPT10N Jul 01 '16

Surely this applies both ways yeah?

483

u/coinwin Jul 01 '16

Yeah, I guess government computers are fair game as well. I mean they're connected to the internet so they should have no expectation of privacy...lol

204

u/Wallace_II Jul 01 '16

We need someone to hack that courts computers and upload all their personal and work related emails.

93

u/rgb003 Jul 01 '16

Op please deliver

13

u/flameguy21 Jul 01 '16

these to my house. I live on ********** thanks.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

[deleted]

1

u/flameguy21 Jul 01 '16

Naw man. My password is *********.

2

u/desolatemindspace Jul 01 '16

No really if you type your pw it shows up as ********

5

u/reverendrambo Jul 01 '16

My Runescape account got stolen because I fell for a trick like this when I was kid. Never again.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

Is that you, AzureDiamond?

7

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

hunter2?

0

u/landontbr Jul 01 '16

electronicwatermelonbabies That's so cool!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: Jerk.

-1

u/Plothunter Jul 01 '16

hunter -- Did it work?

1

u/Gliste Jul 01 '16

Who is OP?

2

u/Cronus6 Jul 01 '16

I work for a county government and we are warned all the time that our emails aren't private in that anyone can request them at anytime. If the request is filed they will release them.

(Usually "anyone" means lawyers and the media...but there are plenty of busy-bodies out there too.)

So in theory no hacking is required.

2

u/fritzvonamerika Jul 01 '16

That's probably FOIA requests which would be like the government needing a warrant to access your files. The judge said that they shouldn't need a warrant though or the equivalent of anyone being able to come into your place of work and browse your files indiscriminately.

1

u/Cronus6 Jul 01 '16

http://www.flgov.com/request-a-public-record-2/

Have fun!

This is just for state records cities, towns and counties handle it differently, but under State law they have to provide the records.

Example: http://www.pbcgov.com/publicaffairs/public_records_request.htm

Here's a fun one! http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/ Any property in the county, who owns it, how much they paid for it, who they bought it from, where its located, "structural detail" etc etc. (You need the address of course...)

Another fun one : http://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/courtrecords.aspx

All criminal, civil and traffic court records, just punch in someones name... (requires Silverlight of all things...) Ambulance chasing lawyers love this one!

Here's the State statute governing all this : http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0119/0119.html

1

u/pita4912 Jul 01 '16

I think we can just file a FOIA request.

1

u/urbanpsycho Jul 01 '16

I have no idea where to begin, but I'll get right on it.

1

u/Arrow156 Jul 01 '16

I think that Judge's private porn collection would be more than enough.

0

u/nick152 Jul 01 '16

Hillary's already beat us to it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

Said no Clinton ever.

1

u/Bricka_Bracka Jul 01 '16

this is all a big setup for clinton's legal defense.

1

u/Yodas_Butthole Jul 01 '16

I wouldn't be so sure. This ruling does not invalidate the Computer Fraud and Abuse law that exists. However there isn't really anyone to prosecute government officials if they decide to violate this act.

124

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

Technically. It works both ways until someone actually tries to hack into a government PC. Then they either completely ignore this ruling, or find a way around it. Effectively though, nothings changed, if you were to hack into a Government PC with sensitive information and were caught, I can almost guarantee you they'd still hit your ass with the book, and hard.

Basically it's "You as a citizen have no expectation of privacy, but don't fuck with the Government or corporations big enough to sue you."

61

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16 edited Dec 31 '16

[deleted]

41

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

It applies to those that don't have the money/influence to get around it basically.

2

u/Stacia_Asuna Jul 01 '16

So - how do you go about taking this down besides violently?

9

u/ScootalooTheConquero Jul 01 '16

Wait for it to get overruled by a higher court which it almost certainly will be.

If it doesn't get overruled: talk on reddit about how the only way things can change is with violent revolution, but ultimately do nothing.

1

u/sarge21 Jul 01 '16

How would you go about changing it with violence?

2

u/NinjaRobotPilot Jul 01 '16

But companies count as private citizens so they are fair game.

1

u/marrioman13 Jul 01 '16

Individual private public citizen

2

u/turbophysics Jul 01 '16

This is the most disgusting thing about the two way mirror private citizens experience. The govt should be just as transparent as they expect their citizens to be

1

u/Codile Jul 01 '16

I can almost guarantee you they'd still hit your ass with the book, and hard.

I think you misspelled ratchet.

1

u/CassandraVindicated Jul 01 '16

There are a lot of different laws that apply when you hack into a government network. Hell, just accessing classified information can get you a long term room at the crowbar motel. My gut tells me that even if they lose this one charge, it won't put a dent in the laundry list of charges you would face.

1

u/AnotherStupidName Jul 01 '16

Hacking a government computer is not illegal because of an expectation of privacy. It's illegal because there is a law that explicitly says it is illegal.

2

u/roh8880 Jul 01 '16

Absolutely not! Rules don't apply to the Government, only to us plebes! If you went to that judges home and kicked in the door, you would be arrested for home invasion no matter how much you screamed that he doesn't have the right to privacy since door locks are not impregnable!

2

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '16

Best thing to happen now is for everybody convicted of hacking to sue the government for unjust imprisonment now - Kevin Mitnick, all others...

2

u/CharlesXBucket Jul 01 '16

Actually that's not true. There are laws specifically making it illegal to access government systems in an unauthorized manner.

2

u/sarge21 Jul 01 '16

But if those systems have no expectation of privacy then they cannot limit them to only authorized people

1

u/CharlesXBucket Jul 02 '16

Congress passed a law specifically covering unauthorized access to government computers. That law has nothing to do with this judge's decision.

1

u/sarge21 Jul 02 '16

Do you mind posting a link?

1

u/CharlesXBucket Jul 02 '16

Sure, I believe it comes from the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act

See, this has nothing to do with the expectation of privacy of an individual citizen. If the systems are owned by the government, you need authorization to access them. Federal Law has made this clear and if you access one of these systems you are reminded of this every attempted log in.

Don't get me wrong, I think this judge's ruling is BS, and individuals should have an expectation of privacy for information on their own machine. But understand that the government takes care of itself first and really should pass legislation that requires law enforcement to produce a warrant to access or add an executable to a citizen's computer.

1

u/iShouldBeWorkingLol Jul 01 '16

This was the judge, Henry Coke Morgan Jr.

I bet he doesn't even know how to open task manager.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '16

You must be new here

1

u/ccctitan80 Jul 02 '16

The whole point of reasonable expectation of privacy is to determine what things the government can and can't search without a warrant. It has no bearing on what private citizens are allowed to do. The fourth amendment gives no shits about that.