Big Brother
Oct. 3rd, 2009 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hnpccThis article ("Police Home In On Child Porn") left me a bit disturbed.
Mostly for this sentence:
The method gives police the capacity to identify the contents and images on computers without applying for court-approved search warrants and without raiding suspects.
The way they're doing this is by tagging known images, and then following the tags to see where they lead. I guess the question I want answered is - what's to stop them doing this with things that aren't child pornography? Like, for example, music files? Or petitions against the government? Or exposes of corruption?
As far as I can see, the answer is "nothing".
You can add these tags to just about anything electronic. You don't need a court order. You don't need a search warrant.
The other question I'd like answered is how likely it is some of these arrests are going to hold up in court without a court order. Just curious.
Mostly for this sentence:
The method gives police the capacity to identify the contents and images on computers without applying for court-approved search warrants and without raiding suspects.
The way they're doing this is by tagging known images, and then following the tags to see where they lead. I guess the question I want answered is - what's to stop them doing this with things that aren't child pornography? Like, for example, music files? Or petitions against the government? Or exposes of corruption?
As far as I can see, the answer is "nothing".
You can add these tags to just about anything electronic. You don't need a court order. You don't need a search warrant.
The other question I'd like answered is how likely it is some of these arrests are going to hold up in court without a court order. Just curious.
