Google joins Yahoo's battle to protect email privacy

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Rick

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Kindling what appeared to be a quiet fight for privacy, CNET reports that the U.S. Department of Justice issued a broad request for Yahoo to divulge emails to the court. The official query was actually issued in December 2009; however, Yahoo is still diligently appealing the request before a federal judge. The new, interesting bit though is the formation of a peculiar partnership: Google has teamed up with Yahoo to help them make their case.

Actually, Google isn't alone either. They have also combined forces with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, TRUSTe and others who aim to ward off prosecutorial requests insistent upon revealing emails. Perhaps not so coincidentally, a number of the organizations involved also happen to be members of the Digital Due Process Coalition, a group dedicated to improving digital privacy laws and practices.

Yahoo's camp argues that people have the reasonable expectation of privacy where electronic mail is concerned. Because of this expectation, they suggest a warrant should be absolutely required to hand over personal emails -- a point the Digital Due Process Coalition has been driving home for some time now. Their explanation is that warrantless email seizure is a form of unreasonable search, thought to be prohibited by the Bill of Rights' fourth amendment.

Another notable point made is that the laws which govern digital privacy do not necessarily address the technology of today. A loophole in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 is cited as an example, which potentially allows government agencies legal access to otherwise private data stored on remote servers. Email, in fact, is a prime example.

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There is no such thing as privacy online anymore in a police state
 
Well, if you do all that facebook, twitter, and other social networking stuff on a regular basis it's your own fault for loosing your privacy. E-mail, however, is a whole different story.
 
I am in agreement with their position. It needs to be standard that a warrant be required just as in other cases where the justice system aquires information about a individual from their service provider.

It is easy to say that there is no privacy online anymore and leave it at that. Also, it is easy to just rollover and do nothing at all when you feel powerless and your privacy has been breached.

This is not about having no privacy, this is about fighting to protect privacy because there are little standards on policy. It may be a technical facts that most of our online activity could be traced back to us, should an uncertaint amount of resources be used to collect and organize this information; however, we are talking about whether representatives of the courts should have the authority to obtain password guarded content without over site or requirement of warrant.

Our service providers are not only helping to protect our digital content but they are protecting themselves. They will have administrative costs to just compiling data for any court officer with out some of that red tape in place. Also, they want to avoid civil law suites from those who have their privacy violated based on common expectations and the service providers own documents of the privacy that they are to provide.
 
This whole brainwashing scheme is to make you feel ok that they CAN obtain emails with a warrant. WHY SHOULD THEY EVEN OBTAIN THEM THEN? They don't look at snail mail, do they? Ironically, this always assumes politicians are honest. What?
 
Google and Yahoo have a noble cause but they will hit a roadblock. The establishment doesn't care what we think about our privacy being violated. Most of the politicians in DC, the court system have all been bought off and no longer serve the interests of the people. By means of behavior placement used by the social engineers, most people are too distracted to care about their freedoms being violated. They will present the problem, have a reaction, and present a solution which means even less privacy (Look at that guy with a firecracker stuck up his butt (the problem), more airport security (reaction), full body-scanners (the solution). It was staged to scare the brainwashed public in giving away their freedoms for the sense of safety.)

We need a peaceful revolution to take back America. That is the only way our rights and freedoms can be restored.
 
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