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Does anyone know what provisions CFAA has to allow government hacking? Generally speaking, what are the laws relating to government investigative entities' comp
by paulsutter 10y ago
Does anyone know what provisions CFAA has to allow government hacking? Generally speaking, what are the laws relating to government investigative entities' compliance with law generally?
(asking with real curiosity and not taking any position)
Found this quote in an article[1] about the FBI's hacking to identify Ross Ulbricht, which made me curious to understand the underlying principles:
> “Even if the FBI had somehow ‘hacked’ into the [Silk Road] Server in order to identify its IP address, such an investigative measure would not have run afoul of the Fourth Amendment,” the prosecutors’ new memo reads. “Given that the SR Server was hosting a blatantly criminal website, it would have been reasonable for the FBI to ‘hack’ into it in order to search it, as any such ‘hack’ would simply have constituted a search of foreign property known to contain criminal evidence, for which a warrant was not necessary.”
[1] https://www.wired.com/2014/10/feds-silk-road-hack-legal/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/feds-silk-road-hack-legal/
- tedunangst 10y agoDo breaking and entering statutes have specific exceptions for police? That's a real question, because now that I think about it, I don't know the answer. In any case, you'll have a hard time convincing a prosecutor to file charges.
- lmm 10y agoA warrant grants the holder specific exceptions. In the case of not having a warrant I'm not aware of any police-specific exceptions - there are general exceptions ("lawful excuse"), and qualified immunity would also apply provided they didn't violate clearly established law. IANAL.