![\"Marijuana_Text_Message\"](\"https:\/\/monachuslex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Marijuana_Text_Message.jpg\")
Your communications, including text messages, are private and may only be intercepted with a warrant \u2026 right???<\/p>\nYour communications, including text messages, are private and may only be intercepted with a warrant \u2026 right???<\/p>\n
Not so fast. \u00a0 Even outside the constitutionally questionable practice of \u2018warrantless wiretapping\u2019 that occurs under the auspices of the War on Terror, there is a much more mundane threat to your privacy where text messages are concerned.<\/p>\n
In 2011, in the case of\u00a0People v. Diaz<\/em><\/a>, the California Supreme Court held that\u00a0defendants lose their privacy rights for any items they are carrying when taken into custody.<\/p>\n That means anytime you are taken into custody, your phone (which has become an almost universal personal accessory at this point) may be searched without your permission if it is not secured. \u00a0And you can be sure that your stored text messages will be the first thing they review.<\/p>\n And before you ask, the US Supreme Court will not be stepping in to save the day. They\u00a0refused to hear the case, letting this dangerous precedent stand. \u00a0Since then, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has made a similar ruling in\u00a0United States v. Flores-Lopez<\/em>.<\/p>\n But the risks inherent in text messaging do not end there. \u00a0Unlike the content of voice conversations, your entire text messaging history is probably stored by your telecommunication provider and\u00a0may be requested by any law enforcement agency with a valid warrant.<\/p>\n So what does this mean to you? \u00a0The answer is simple. \u00a0It means that you should not consider text messages to be a private means of communication, at least not until the justice system catches up with technology and properly recognizes that the \u2018papers\u2019 referenced in the Fourth Amendment can just as easily be comprised of electrons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Your communications, including text messages, are private and may only be intercepted with a warrant \u2026 right??? Not so fast. \u00a0 Even outside the constitutionally questionable practice of \u2018warrantless wiretapping\u2019 that occurs under the auspices of the War on Terror, … Continue reading