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I think Google fought very hard for it's case. "Self Hosted" is certainly not going to fare much easier in this same situation. I do not think that the same r

• solotronics 10y ago
  I think that in this specific case Google was able to push back much harder than a typical individual would. Who can afford a team of world class lawyers to go up against the fed?
  • SEJeff 10y ago
    And they can still appeal potentially up to SCOTUS.
• Spivak 10y ago
  Self-hosted would absolutely fare better in this situation. It's not perfect, but at least you would know you're being investigated. This whole mess is predicated on the fact the government is allowed to request your data from Google without much fanfare because they are technically in possession of it. The DOJ was able to successfully argue that user emails are actually business documents owned by the email provider. This breaks down when the person they are investigating is also the email provider.
  • Navarr 10y ago
    You'd have to own the server too, at that point. If you were a VPS or even a dedicated lease, or shared - I think the fed would be able to pull the same thing.
    • donald123 10y ago
      Doesn't matter if you encrypt your emails, since you have control of your server. Let the fed have the encrypted data.
      • deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      • fixermark 10y ago
        ... at which point you might get to rot in jail for contempt until you fork over the decryption key. I don't have a convenient link to the xkcd comic right now that talks about the difference between theoretical and practical security. ;)
        • Roujo 10y ago
          To quote Spivak higher up in the comment chain: > It's not perfect, but at least you would know you're being investigated.
        • donald123 10y ago
          Am I gonna be jailed for refusing to decrypt my files?
          • fixermark 10y ago
            IANAL, but my understanding of current American law is that if the material is deemed by a judge to be evidence, and you can decrypt it, and you won't decrypt it, you can be held in contempt of court.
            • donald123 10y ago
              So they have to prove the evidence is in my emails first, and then prove my emails are on my "self-hosted" server. And I will have full control of my own data.
              • fixermark 10y ago
                That's not how contempt works. If the prosecution asserts you have evidence material to the case that you would be legally required to render and won't render it, and the judge believes you probably do, that's it; they don't have to prove the evidence is in your emails to search for the evidence in your emails. Fail to render up the emails or render them up in an intentionally-obfuscated form, and they can hold you in contempt at pretty much the judge's discretion (your mileage may vary depending on severity of crime and state law, where applicable). (Personal observation: people of a technical bent seem, for whatever reason, to underestimate the wide swath of power the legal process has in investigating a murder case).
    • megous 10y ago
      Not necessarily. You can use POP3. If you pickup often they would find precisely nothing.
  • sfifs 10y ago
    > It's not perfect, but at least you would know you're being investigated. And this basically is the reason multi national companies self host email servers