If you’re a financial criminal aiming to use email to communicate regarding your schemes, you may want to stay away from Gmail. In late July 2014, a federal judge in Manhattan allowed access to a private email account in a money laundering case, directing Google to release all contents of a Gmail user’s account to U.S. prosecutors. The account belonged to a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation.
New Trend in Privacy Law
Federal Judge Gabriel Gorenstein’s decision is a significant departure from high-profile rulings in recent cases and has incensed privacy advocates. The magistrate also issued a memorandum opinion in support of his ruling, which went into detail on the applicability of search and seizure laws on email accounts.
U.S. legal precedent generally allows federal law enforcement agencies to access the contents of computer hard drives with limited restrictions, as long as probable cause exists. Specifically, there must be sufficient possibility that there will be some evidence within a computer’s memory to support prosecuting a suspect.
Until this case was handed down, federal law enforcement has been unsuccessful in gaining access to the entire contents of a person’s email account when the email is controlled by providers like Gmail or Hotmail. Agencies have fared poorly under the legal standard that requires them to define with specificity what they’re seeking, as required by the 4th Amendment.
The direct consequences do not represent a landmark case and have little to do with the money laundering aspects of the investigation. However, the ruling does point to the trend of utilizing email communications as evidence in criminal cases. U.S authorities may be given greater powers to search email accounts related to financial crimes, in contrast to previous court decisions.
Privacy Advocates Rally Against the Decision
Supporters of less government involvement in private affairs were outspoken in their disagreement with the case, saying that it sets a standard for increasingly broad searches of online behavior. Judge Gorenstein’s opinion stated that other courts erred by ignoring case precedent that grants law enforcement significant latitude when sorting through paper documents.
Privacy groups referred to a U.S. Supreme Court case handed down in June 2014 to support their contention that Judge Gorenstein’s ruling is overreaching. In that matter, Chief Justice John Roberts identified overly broad search warrants as a factor driving the American Revolutionary War and warned that granting access to private email accounts in a money laundering case could go too far in the electronic age.
The Ruling Was Issued at a Time when Data Requests by Law Enforcement are Increasing
The debate over privacy issues in online communications will continue as the expertise among lawyers and law enforcement departments broadens. All parties involved with criminal investigations will constantly seek ways to circumvent legal precedent in obtaining electronic records and using them in investigations. In 2013 alone, Google addressed almost 28,000 requests and turned over account information in 64% of those cases. Granting access to a private email account in a money laundering case is just the beginning.
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