How Would You Know if the Feds Searched Your E-mail? — ECPA’s Missing Notice Requirement

Alan Butler writes:

EPIC recently filed comments on proposed amendments to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which would authorize judges to issue “remote access” search warrants in certain cases. As EPIC outlined, the surreptitious computer searches conducted under these remote access warrants would run afoul of an important Fourth Amendment protection — the requirement of prior notice. But the issue of delayed or non-existent notice is not only present with remote access searches; it is an issue with all electronic search authorities and especially with searches conducted under the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2703.