You're off a little bit, though this is a HUGELY unclear area in law right now. The term is the "plain View exception" or "plain view doctrine." It's why your t

You're off a little bit, though this is a HUGELY unclear area in law right now. The term is the "plain View exception" or "plain view doctrine." It's why your trash is searchable if you put it out for pickup. It's why your trash is searchable over a fence if the lid is off. Horton v. California, while executing a narrowly issued warrant, officers found additional evidence "in plain view" and the Supreme Court ruled the evidence admissible. This question is particularly relevant to IT because different courts have ruled different ways on how "plain view" applies to computer searches. http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleFriendlyLTN.jsp?id=1202458173965 http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleFriendlyL... for a little on that particular question.