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Originally posted by pyraxis
Take the part of the Patriot Act that deals with online communication. (Sec. 217, Interception of Computer Trespasser Communications, http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html .) If I'm understanding it correctly, the government can legally intercept any online communication if a) the owner of the computer consents, and b) the user does not have a contractual agreement with the owner to be using the computer. Note the government does *not* need to get objective judicial oversight, which is not the case with similar laws in the past. Also note that if the information is never used in a prosecution, the user never even finds out they were being tapped, let alone has the chance to contest it in court.
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What 217 means is that if I believe someone hacked my computer, I have the ability to request law enforcement to monitor my computer, as long as 1) I own the computer, and 2) the "user" isn't legally allowed to be using my computer. If I don't consent, the government can do nothing. Before, even with my consent the government was not allowed to assist.
From
http://www.nunes.house.gov/PatriotAct.htm
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Prior to the enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the law prohibited computer service providers from sharing with law enforcement that hackers had broken into their systems.
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Regarding reading your e-mail/IM,
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Section 217 preserves the privacy of law-abiding computer users. Officers cannot agree to help a computer owner unless (1) they are engaged in a lawful investigation; (2) there is reason to believe that the communications will be relevant to that investigation; and (3) their activities will not acquire the communications of nonhackers.
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217 is relevant only to the owner of the computer. If the government wanted to read your e-mail, for example, by "wire-tapping" your computer (and not the computers belonging to people you e-mail), this falls under section 216, which
does require judicial consent. As an example, let us say I am a hacker and I have broken into your system. 217 allows you to ask the government to investigate your computer, and your computer only. If you don't ask, they can't do anything. In order for the government to investigate
my computer (without my consent), they would have to use 216.
However, under 216 the government can only read the headers -- they are prohibited from reading the content. You can imagine it like requesting a suspect's phone records from the phone company -- you can tell who he called, but not what he said. Doesn't seem so unreasonable, now, does it? Prior to the Patriot Act, the government could not touch e-mail in any way. This resolves that loophole (and is why it has no sunset provision).
-- Alvin