Corporate Compliance

Court rules e-mail is private under fourth amendment

Compliance Monitor, June 27, 2007

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!

A federal appeals court has ruled that law enforcement officials cannot search e-mail without a warrant, the Associated Press reports. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed a lower court's ruling that temporarily prohibited officials from searching Internet service providers' email storage. This important decision protects e-mail under the Fourth Amendment, which already protects telephone calls and other forms of communication.

Prior to this ruling, wiretapping laws have only protected e-mails in transit. However, the lower court deduced that e-mails "were roughly analogous to sealed letters, in which the sender maintains an expectation of privacy." The appeals court unanimously agreed.

Click here to read more. 



Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!

    Strategies for Health Care Compliance
  • Strategies for Health Care Compliance

    News and real-life examples to increase the effectiveness of your compliance program. Strategies for Health Care Compliance...

  • Compliance Monitor

    This HTML e-mail newsletter delivers news on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, as well as recent documents and targets...

  • Medicare Weekly Update

    Each issue of Medicare Weekly Update includes the latest CMS proposed and final rules, CMS manual revisions, and...

  • Medicare Update for Physician Services

    Medicare Update for Physician Services is a free, monthly e-zine that delivers news and information to help physician...

Most Popular

Related Articles