The ACLU has released a not-very-comforting Freedom of Information Act
request return from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) showing just how
easy it is for the tax agency to read people's online communications
without a court-issued warrant. Basically, if they want to read your Emails, they can do it, no warrant, no judicial approval, they can just do it.
A 2010 presentation
from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel stated that "4th Amendment Does
Not Protect Emails Stored on Server" and that internet users should have
"No Privacy Expectation." Under the current rules, if an email has been
opened or if it's more than 180 days old, then the people who check
whether you've been good or bad on your tax returns don't need a warrant
for full access.
The same presentation states that agents are free to place GPS
tracking devices on their targets without a warrant and that cars parked
in a driveway are not covered by the Amendment's "right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures."
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