IRS: We can read emails without warrant
By Brendan Sasso -
04/10/13 12:56 PM ET
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has claimed that
agents do not need warrants to read people's emails, text messages and other
private electronic communications, according to internal agency documents.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which obtained
the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, released the
information on Wednesday.
In a 2009 handbook, the IRS said the Fourth Amendment
does not protect emails because Internet users "do not have a reasonable
expectation of privacy in such communications." A 2010 presentation by the
IRS Office of General Counsel reiterated the policy.
Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of
1986, government officials only need a subpoena, issued without a judge's
approval, to read emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days
old.
Privacy groups such as the ACLU argue that the Fourth
Amendment provides greater privacy protections than the ECPA, and that
officials should need a warrant to access all emails and other private
messages.
Traditionally, the courts have ruled that people have
limited privacy rights over information they share with third parties. Some law
enforcement groups have argued that this means they only need a subpoena to
compel email providers, Internet service companies and others to turn over
their customers' sensitive content.
But in 2010, a federal appeals court ruled that police
violated a man's constitutional rights when they read his emails without a
warrant.
Despite the court decision, U.S. v. Warshak, the IRS kept
its email search policy unchanged in a March 2011 update to its employee
manual, according to the ACLU.
In an October 2011 memo obtained by the ACLU, an IRS
attorney explained that the Warshak decision only applies in the Sixth Circuit,
which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
But the attorney noted that if a service provider fought
the search request, it would likely result in "protracted
litigation," meaning that any leads from the emails would be
"stale" if the IRS ever obtained them.
The IRS did not respond to a request to comment.
The ACLU also submitted requests for documents from the
FBI and the Justice Department on their policies for emails searches, but has
not received responses yet.
Lawmakers in both chambers are working on legislation
that would update the ECPA to require a warrant for emails and other private
online messages.
At a hearing last month, Elana Tyrangiel, the acting
assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy,
agreed that there is "no principled basis" for treating emails
differently depending on how old they are.
Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/292989-irs-claims-it-can-read-emails-without-a-warrant#ixzz2Q74yOAkz
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