1 / 12

Cyber Rights and the Constitution

Explore the intricacies of the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments and their implications on cyber rights and privacy in the digital world. Learn about the limits and protections offered by the Constitution against government and private infringements. Delve into the evolving landscape of speech, privacy, and search in the cyber realm.

vgaribay
Download Presentation

Cyber Rights and the Constitution

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cyber Rights and the Constitution • Mike Godwin • PORTIA Project • February 2006

  2. First Amendment • “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

  3. First Amendment • When is speech so dangerous that it can be restricted? • What constitutes speech in the digital world? • Speech and press converge. • Viruses themselves not speech. But what about virus source code?

  4. First Amendment • Tensions between speech and privacy rights. • Constitution puts limits on direct government infringements of privacy, but not on private actors. Also, few limits on indirect infringements by government. • Legal system does little to limit private action that infringes on privacy. • Some exceptions: the Privacy Torts

  5. The Privacy Torts • False-light misrepresentation. • Intrusion upon seclusion. • Misappropriation of name or likeness. • Publication of embarrassing private facts.

  6. The Privacy Torts • One common element is generally some kind of publication/publicity. (This is a First Amendment connection.) Exception: intrusion upon seclusion. • Ironically, you have to become even more public to seek a remedy. • Example: Jessica Cutler’s blog.

  7. Fourth Amendment • “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

  8. Fourth Amendment • Probable cause • Reasonableness • Particularity • Warrant based on oath or affirmation • Neutral magistrate

  9. Fourth Amendment • Searching and seizing communications • Olmstead v. United States (1921) • Goldman v. United States (1943) • Silverman v. United States (1961) • An evolving understanding of constitutional protections against government infringements of privacy rights.

  10. Fourth Amendment • Katz v. United States (1967) -- “reasonable expectation of privacy” • Constitution protects persons, not places. • Responses: the Wiretap Act in 1968, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the 1970s.

  11. Computer/message seizures may implicate... • The Fourth Amendment when mere data is sought. • The First Amendment when computer is a locus of publication (e.g., a blog or BBS). • The Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Wiretap Act. • The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act • The Privacy Protection Act of 1980

  12. Fifth Amendment • “No person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law....” • What about disclosure of passwords or encryption keys?

More Related