Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Your communications are neither your person nor your property, so they don't need a warrant according to the constitution.



The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, ***PAPERS***, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

... from a time when all communication occurred via writing upon paper.


"Computers aren't made of paper - it's legal" - the supreme court


This is about as far from the Court’s 4th amendment jurisprudence as one could imagine.

See, for example, Justice Scalia’s ruling in

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States


That’s different. That involves a house, and the word house appears in the 4th amendment.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: