Last week a New York state appeals court recognized that “Facebook users share more intimate personal information through their Facebook accounts than may be revealed through rummaging about one’s home.” Nonetheless, the court held that online providers and their users are powerless to stop the government from obtaining details about the users’ online activities once a search warrant has been issued, even where the search warrant may be improper.

The court held, consistent with well-established law, that once a law enforcement official possesses a search warrant directing a third party (e.g., Facebook, Google, cable company providing internet access) to provide details about an individual’s online activity (e.g., Facebook account, Google email account, search history), that third party and the individual whose account is under investigation have no ability to prevent law enforcement from obtaining those account details. According to last week’s decision, courts should not intervene until after the production is made. The individual’s remedies come later, such as by filing a motion to suppress the evidence in a subsequent criminal case brought against the individual. But that remedy simply keeps those often sensitive details away from the jury. By then, the government has spent months or years in possession of them.
Continue Reading The Facebook Warrant Decision