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Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

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Issue 2 – General Warrant Search <strong>of</strong> Target SuspectBecause the FBI has stated Carnivore copies and reviews, insome manner, all electronic transmissions attributable to asuspect named in a court order,30 does the device conduct ageneral search <strong>of</strong> the suspect’s electronic communications notspecified in the order?1. Examination <strong>of</strong> Fourth Amendment ConcernsThe FBI has established that the Carnivore device readscertain “addressing” and “transactional” information fortransmissions flowing through Carnivore’s first filter point.31Much <strong>of</strong> this information is not authorized in a valid court orderand has no connection to the approved purpose <strong>of</strong> the electronicsurveillance.32 The IITRI report seems to confirm that whenCarnivore is used for trap-and-trace surveillance to interceptsimply the “to” and “from” information on an e-mail, the s<strong>of</strong>twaregives investigators more information than may be permitted bythe court order, including the length <strong>of</strong> e-mail messages.33Carnivore intercepts such material in one <strong>of</strong> two ways. First,the device may receive the data without examining the actualbody <strong>of</strong> the transmission.34 Second, the system may view theaddressing information only in conjunction with the body <strong>of</strong> thecommunication.35As an initial matter, an individual raising a FourthAmendment challenge to a government search must show that theactions <strong>of</strong> the government infringed upon his legitimateexpectation <strong>of</strong> privacy.36 If the individual does not establish thisreasonable expectation, no Fourth Amendment search, andtherefore violation, has occurred. The judicially created test fordetermining whether an individual has a reasonable expectation<strong>of</strong> privacy in an electronic communication is a two-prong30. Id.31. Hearings 2, supra note 22.32. Id.33. Jon Baumgarten, Official Report on Carnivore Supports E-Mail Surveillance,5 Cyberspace <strong>Law</strong>. 23 (2001).34. Carnivore’s Challenge, supra note 6.35. Id.36. See Skok, supra note 1, at 71.

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