14 DAY TRIAL // Law enforcement authorities are constantly seeking more power to be able to “spy” on the online communications of individuals they believe to be involved in criminal activities. However, for the time being, they require a warrant to do that and, as it turns out, they don’t always get one.
Ars Technica reports that the FBI has been denied a search and seizure warrant under Rule 41. The Bureau was trying to get permission to install spy software on the computer of an individual suspected of accessing the bank account of one John Doe after hacking into his email account.
However, Federal Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith has denied the application, arguing that the territorial limits of a Rule 41 search warrant have not been met. In addition, Judge Smith has pointed out that Fourth Amendment requirements have not been satisfied.
According to the court document, the FBI wanted to install a piece of software that would allow it to perform various activities for a period of 30 days to aid its investigation.
More precisely, authorities planned to use the software to record IP addresses, Internet activity, evidence of who used and owned the targeted device, and the applications that were run on the machine.
Besides locating the device and its owner, the FBI also hoped to take pictures of him via the device’s built-in camera.
As the judge puts it, the “Government seeks warrant to hack a computer suspected of criminal use.”
The judge has denied the search and seizure warrant in this case naming it “extremely intrusive” in nature. However, he says this doesn’t mean “such a potent investigative technique could never be authorized under Rule 41.”