Virtual Searches Christopher Slobogin Stephen C. O’Connell Professor of Law University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law

Types of Virtual Searches Communications Surveillance –Real-time interception of communications –E.g., wiretapping, bugging, interception of Physical Surveillance –Real-time observation of physical activities –E.g., cameras, thermal imagers Transaction Surveillance –Accessing records –Real-time interception of information about transactions (phone #s) –E.g., use of commercial data brokers (CDBs), pen registers

Types of Physical Surveillance Video surveillance –Of the home –In public (e.g., London, D.C.) Tracking (e.g., beepers, cell phones, GPS) Magnification devices (binoculars, satellites) Illumination devices (flashlights, Startron) Detection devices (xrays, thermal imagers) –Contraband-specific (e.g., dogs) –Weapons-specific (Millitech?)

Hot Issues Surveillance of the Home (Kyllo) –General public use exception –Naked eye exception Public Surveillance (Knotts) –Right to Anonymity? –ABA Standard: “reasonable likelihood that a legitimate law enforcement objective will be achieved” Retention and Use of Results Use of Contraband- & Weapon-Specific Devices

Types of Transaction Surveillance Accessing already-existing records (e.g., medical, financial, educational) –Subpoenas; National Security letters (relevance) –Use of CDBs like Choicepoint (money) Real-time interception of “catalogic” data (e.g., phone #s, addresses) –Pen registers, trap & trace devices (certification order) –Snoopware (Carnivore/DCS-1000, BackOrifice) Target-based surveillance v. event-based surveillance (i.e., “datamining”)

Hot Issues Does Constitution apply? –Hale v. Henkel –United States v. Miller Should regulation (constitutional or otherwise) depend on the type of record? –Medical, financial, tax records; stored (probable cause v. federal statutes requiring mere relevance) –Public records (reasonable suspicion v. Privacy Act) –Catalogic data--logs of phone & ISP companies; credit card purchases, passenger lists, etc. (relevance v. 0) Aggregation concerns