The Security Mentor

"...the government is seeking to eliminate any Constitutional privacy interest in e-mail."

So says Mark Rasch, whom I've quoted before. According to his bio, "SecurityFocus columnist Mark D. Rasch, J.D., is a former head of the Justice Department's computer crime unit".

The quote is from a long but informative analysis of a court case about email privacy.

He says the government's legal arguments go way beyond being able to secure evidence in an investigation:

What is silly about this is the fact that, at least for the government, the argument is unnecessary. The Fourth Amendment protects against "unreasonable" invasions of privacy interests. The government could effectively argue that, by obtaining a subpoena or other court order for the records which are relevant to a legitimate investigation, the search or seizure is reasonable, and therefore comports with the Fourth Amendment. All subpoenas and demands for documents infringe some privacy interest, and unless overbroad, they are generally reasonable. The statute which permits government access to stored communication pursuant to a mere subpoena may likewise be perfectly reasonable and may withstand constitutional scrutiny. But that doesn't mean that the Constitution doesn't apply.