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Court: Wiretap Needed to Snoop On Facebook Posts
New Jersey’s Supreme Court has provided a major win for privacy advocates, ruling that police must have a wiretap to snoop on Facebook posts.
According to New Jersey Monitor, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the wiretap requirement for near-real-time monitoring of Facebook posts. The decision overturns lower court decisions in which opponents had argued that a basic warrant was all that was needed.
The Supreme Court disagreed, saying such an interpretation would undermine the state’s wiretap laws, saying “law enforcement today would never need to apply for a wiretap order to obtain future electronic communications from Facebook users’ accounts on an ongoing basis.”
Under the ruling, law enforcement will need to prove probable cause and show that other methods of obtaining the information are not viable.
“It’s great to see the New Jersey Supreme Court make clear that whenever the government seeks ongoing access to our private conversations, it must meet the heightened protections required under state law and the federal and state constitutions,” Jennifer Granick, of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the outlet.
The decision is a major win for tech companies and privacy advocates.
“Legislation may not be quick enough to match the light speed of technological advances, but when privacy is threatened by technology’s speed, the constitution will be the north star for courts to protect individuals’ rights against unlawful government intrusion,” said attorney Brian Neary, who argued on behalf of the New Jersey State Bar Association, a friend of the court in favor of the ruling.
Court: Wiretap Needed to Snoop On Facebook Posts
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