Earlier this month, someone e-mailed a bomb threat to Bradeis University, a rather liberal liberal-arts college (with a strong Jewish tradition) outside Boston. In response, officials evacuated several buildings and an elementary school, but no bombs were found.
The e-mailed threat was traced back to Newton, Massachusetts. More specifically, publicly-accessible computers at Newton’s library. The FBI, interested in having a chat with the person who sent the threat, went to the library to see if there was anything incriminating on the computer in question.
Where they were blocked by a librarian, who would not let them touch the computers in question without a warrant.
Nine hours later, the warrant arrived and the computers were hauled off.
Now, I’m no jack-booted fascist, but it occurs to me that if one is using a public computer, one pretty much forfeits any expectation of privacy. In fact, every public computer I’ve ever used has disclaimers and warnings plastered all over it saying words to the effect that you have about much right to privacy using this computer as you do when you sign on to be on “Big Brother.”
But I feel so much safer. If I ever feel like violating some laws or something via computer, I’ll be sure to go to the library. Especially the one in Newton, Massachusetts.
YOW!!! Some of you people are scary. Read a freakin’ history book – government is the biggest danger human beings face. The US government takes about 25% of my working life in taxes every stinking week; terrorists have never taken anything from me. The law in Mass. is that library usage records are not public records. You need a warrant to look at them. The librarian was making sure the search was done by the book to protect the library users privacy. As B Moe pointed out (finally someone with some sense) the librarian doesn’t own the computers and therefore may not have the authority to grant consent to a warrantless search. And no, this isn’t a case of the government looking at its own property, the FBI cannot browse IRS records at will. You might want to pay attention to the evolving law on information ownership. Any agency or entity you deal with that has access to your private information tries to make a buck off of you by selling that information to advertisers. People are starting to question just who owns that information and at what point distributing it constitutes an infringement on ones right to privacy. The courts are beginning to respond to this interesting question.
To hear the moonbats tell it the FBI is already bugging everything eveybody does on computers anyway. Some even wonder if they need to line their houses with Reynolds Wrap. I guess they don’t take their own paranoid claims that seriously after all.
Oleg – non-Islamism I suppose. I’m a heretic and must be destroyed. Or something. I dunno, why don’t you ask them why they blew up some of my fellow countrymen and women in Bali a couple of years ago?
The US government takes about 25% of my working life in taxes every stinking week; terrorists have never taken anything from me. Tombraider
Wow.
You know what the terrorist want to take from you? Your life. If they were ever successful, you wouldn’t be able to say anything…
And since they haven’t been successful, it is because they haven’t had the chance.