(Matthew Guariglia) Geofence and reverse keyword warrants are some of the most dangerous, civil-liberties-infringing and reviled tools in law enforcement agencies’ digital toolbox. It turns out that these warrants are so invasive of user privacy that big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are willing to support banning them. The three tech giants have issued a public statement through a trade organization,“Reform Government Surveillance,” that they will support a bill before the New York State legislature. The Reverse Location Search Prohibition Act, A. 84/ S. 296, would prohibit government use of geofence warrants and reverse warrants, a bill that EFF also supports. Their support is welcome, especially since we’ve been calling on companies like Google, which have a lot of resources and a lot of lawyers, to do more to resist these kinds of government requests.
KEYWORD
KEYWORD WARRANTS: Google Monitors Your Search Terms and Secretly Turns You Over to the Feds if You Enter Certain Keywords
(JD Heyes) If our founders somehow managed to be reincarnated and took a look around at the country they bequeathed us, they would be amazed — and angry as well as disappointed — at how far we have allowed our leaders to stray from the Constitution.