Fourth Amendment: Digital Data
The Fourth Amendment, which ultimately governs the legality of all governmental searches and seizures, was ratified in 1791. Obviously, that’s a long time before smart phones, computers, the internet, or even cars were invented. Evolving technology has always posed a challenge to courts interpreting the 4th amendment, and never more so than today.
We live in a world where sometimes it seems all of us are under constant surveillance. Not only are cameras everywhere, but our own government collects and stores all of our personal digital communications. Given its pervasiveness, it is hardly surprising that high tech digital evidence, such as videos, texts, cell phone location data, e-mails, computer files, etc., is the most important form of evidence in many criminal investigations.
Address the issue of digital data in police investigations including the legal requirements.