NoGoolag

#usa #cops #Google #why
FYSA - Legal/Regulatory
4th Amendment / Privacy

On December 16th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in a criminal assault case that individuals do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in certain Google search records when those searches are voluntarily entered into Google and disclosed to a third party. In such cases, investigators may use a reverse keyword search warrant to identify a suspect based on searches of a victim’s name and address. The court’s majority relied on third-party doctrine principles, concluding that by using Google under its terms, users assume the risk that search data may be accessed by law enforcement, a decision that has raised national concerns among privacy advocates because reverse keyword warrants start with search terms rather than suspects and can collect data from multiple unrelated users. Debrief: The case stemmed from a successful investigation where police found that the offender, John Kurtz, used Google to search for the home address of a woman that he later kidnapped and raped. Pennsylvania State Police obtained a search
warrant for a substantial quantity of Google’s records and examined them to link the suspect to the crime. The court determined that citizens using Google to conduct searches do not have an "expectation of privacy in the records generated by those searches" and that uses of such warrants are constitutional.

》Sources: www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-36A-2024oajc%20-%20106611829340009817.pdf

www.abajournal.com/news/article/pa-supreme-court-rules-that-police-can-access-google-searches-without-a-warrant

https://natlawreview.com/article/can-law-enforcement-access-google-search-data-without-warrant-pennsylvania-says-yes

ABA Journal

Police can access Google searches without warrant, state supreme court rules

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that police investigating a rape did not need a warrant to obtain a person's Google searches, the Record reports.

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