The Supreme Court has found protections for people’s privacy in several constitutional amendments – and used it as a basis for some pretty fundamental protections.
The lawsuits filed in Portland sparked by the presence of federal law enforcement agents sent there by President Trump are a preview of the legal battles to come in cities across the US.
Cellphone data can show who coronavirus patients interacted with, which can help isolate infected people before they feel ill. But how digital contact tracing is implemented matters.
People’s most private information isn’t on paper locked in desks anymore – it’s online, stored on corporate servers. The Supreme Court now says some privacy protections cover that data.
The FBI has a history of abusing search warrants to illegally read Americans’ emails. Did the agency just do it again, in the highest of all high-profile situations?
We don’t expect our own government to hack our email – but it’s happening, in secret, and if current court cases go badly, we may never know how often.