Privacy Newsletter: United States Court of Appeals Holds That a Third Party Cannot Give Effective Consent to Password Protected Computer Files
1/1/2002
In reinstating a civil suit against the FBI, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit addressed the still-novel issue of how to apply Fourth Amendment law to password-protected computer files. In so doing, the court found a third party cannot effectively consent to search of another's password-protected files. Truclock v. Freeh, No. 00-2260 (4th Cir., December 28, 2001.) The logic employed by the court may have resonance outside the Fourth Amendment context. For example, to the degree companies allow employees to create password-protected files, and wish access to such files, company policies should be clear and explicit enough to avoid any legitimate expectation of privacy by the employees - and consequential claims by the employees.
