4 ms·

Gov. Brown Signs CalECPA, Requiring Police to Get a Warrant for Your Data

111 points by zmanian 11y ago

cenal 11y ago
This needs to be a Federal law, but that can't possibly happen with our dysfunctional government. I'm glad to see the States at least taking action.
- wheaties 11y ago
  Isn't that because according to some in the Senate the Internet is just a series of pipes? Wish I was saying this mode in jest. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes
  - HarryHirsch 11y ago
    But Ted Stevens got the mental model right. The internet is supposed to be a series of tubes, the tube is supposed not to care what flows through it. This approach has been very good for innovation, very much unlike the walled gardens we are seeing today.
    - ethbro 11y ago
      This. When talking to extremely non-technical people (or being one yourself), who are we to begrudge a few abstractions? Isn't the important thing that it's a appropriate and functional abstraction in the problem space in which it's deployed?
  - FussyZeus 11y ago
    As funny as it is watching him explain how he understood it, the fact remains is he probably understood it better than the majority of people in that room.
Imagenuity 11y ago
Maine and Utah have also implemented these protections. This movement is being called the Digital 4th Amendment and has at website at http://www.digital4th.org http://www.digital4th.org
Animats 11y ago
It's good to see California's government functioning well.
javajosh 11y ago
Cool. Jerry Brown is a good leader.
mtgx 11y ago
> These protections apply not only to your devices, but to online services that store your data. I assume this is referring to giving a warrant to the company holding my data for me. I would like this to go a step beyond that and require law enforcement to sign a warrant that it presents to me, since it's my data.
coldcode 11y ago
California law will not trump any law at the federal level. This will only affect the local police and not the FBI, NSA or anyone else who wants your data. Of course if they happen to share it with the police just for grins...
- wlesieutre 11y ago
  The Justice Department is already requiring warrants for federal agents using stingrays. That decision didn't affect local/state departments, but AFAICT everything in California is covered under one or the other now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-agencies-will-have-to-obtain-warrant-before-using-cellphone-surveillance-technology/2015/09/03/08e44b70-5255-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justi...
- late2part 11y ago
  Many constitutionalists believe that state laws do indeed trump federal laws.
task_queue 11y ago
So the tools, infrastructure and contacts are all there for police to hit a button / make a phone call and get your private data. Why bother getting a warrant if you can open your laptop and have your suspicions validated in five minutes? Access shouldn't be in the hands of local departments with little to no accountability. I'd go as far to say that access shouldn't be made available at all, but it's almost 2016 and that isn't changing. http://theantimedia.org/local-sheriffs-dept-used-stingray-surveillance-more-than-300-times-without-a-warrant/ http://theantimedia.org/local-sheriffs-dept-used-stingray-su... http://www.wired.com/2015/04/ny-cops-used-stingray-spy-tool-46-times-without-warrant/ http://www.wired.com/2015/04/ny-cops-used-stingray-spy-tool-...
sam234jk 11y ago
You all think, cops having cell phone data and location is bad. Yes, they should not have that data without warrant. Worst is the bad guys, thugs, having your cell data when they want to harass you. I've been harassed by gang members for last 3 months. I moved to three different states but they continued the harassment and stalking everywhere I went and it turns out they were using my cell location. Once I turned off the cell phones they went away for some time. In addition, recently speaking with one of the tech persons at cell phone providers, she casually mentioned that anyone in tech department could look up location on any phone. So now police has to get warrant to catch bad guys and bad guys can look up information on anyone when they want. If you are interested more in what happened with me, here it is http://nvi.io/90j http://nvi.io/90j

111 points by zmanian 11y ago

cenal 11y ago

This needs to be a Federal law, but that can't possibly happen with our dysfunctional government. I'm glad to see the States at least taking action.

wheaties 11y ago
Isn't that because according to some in the Senate the Internet is just a series of pipes? Wish I was saying this mode in jest. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes
- HarryHirsch 11y ago
  But Ted Stevens got the mental model right. The internet is supposed to be a series of tubes, the tube is supposed not to care what flows through it. This approach has been very good for innovation, very much unlike the walled gardens we are seeing today.
  - ethbro 11y ago
    This. When talking to extremely non-technical people (or being one yourself), who are we to begrudge a few abstractions? Isn't the important thing that it's a appropriate and functional abstraction in the problem space in which it's deployed?
- FussyZeus 11y ago
  As funny as it is watching him explain how he understood it, the fact remains is he probably understood it better than the majority of people in that room.

Imagenuity 11y ago

Maine and Utah have also implemented these protections. This movement is being called the Digital 4th Amendment and has at website at http://www.digital4th.org http://www.digital4th.org

Animats 11y ago

It's good to see California's government functioning well.

javajosh 11y ago

Cool. Jerry Brown is a good leader.

mtgx 11y ago

> These protections apply not only to your devices, but to online services that store your data. I assume this is referring to giving a warrant to the company holding my data for me. I would like this to go a step beyond that and require law enforcement to sign a warrant that it presents to me, since it's my data.

coldcode 11y ago

California law will not trump any law at the federal level. This will only affect the local police and not the FBI, NSA or anyone else who wants your data. Of course if they happen to share it with the police just for grins...

wlesieutre 11y ago
The Justice Department is already requiring warrants for federal agents using stingrays. That decision didn't affect local/state departments, but AFAICT everything in California is covered under one or the other now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-agencies-will-have-to-obtain-warrant-before-using-cellphone-surveillance-technology/2015/09/03/08e44b70-5255-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justi...
late2part 11y ago
Many constitutionalists believe that state laws do indeed trump federal laws.

task_queue 11y ago

So the tools, infrastructure and contacts are all there for police to hit a button / make a phone call and get your private data. Why bother getting a warrant if you can open your laptop and have your suspicions validated in five minutes? Access shouldn't be in the hands of local departments with little to no accountability. I'd go as far to say that access shouldn't be made available at all, but it's almost 2016 and that isn't changing. http://theantimedia.org/local-sheriffs-dept-used-stingray-surveillance-more-than-300-times-without-a-warrant/ http://theantimedia.org/local-sheriffs-dept-used-stingray-su... http://www.wired.com/2015/04/ny-cops-used-stingray-spy-tool-46-times-without-warrant/ http://www.wired.com/2015/04/ny-cops-used-stingray-spy-tool-...

sam234jk 11y ago

You all think, cops having cell phone data and location is bad. Yes, they should not have that data without warrant. Worst is the bad guys, thugs, having your cell data when they want to harass you. I've been harassed by gang members for last 3 months. I moved to three different states but they continued the harassment and stalking everywhere I went and it turns out they were using my cell location. Once I turned off the cell phones they went away for some time. In addition, recently speaking with one of the tech persons at cell phone providers, she casually mentioned that anyone in tech department could look up location on any phone. So now police has to get warrant to catch bad guys and bad guys can look up information on anyone when they want. If you are interested more in what happened with me, here it is http://nvi.io/90j http://nvi.io/90j